Vietnamese-Canadian author wins Canadian book award.

Kim Thúy's debut novel, "Ru," which recounts her journey to settle in North America, won the Canada Reads award.

On March 19th, the novel Ru by Vietnamese-born author Kim Thúy won the 14th annual Canada Reads Prize, organized by CBC, Canada. This annual award, established in 2002, aims to select outstanding books that can change perspectives, challenge prejudices, and shed light on issues for readers. In the final round, five scholars, along with their nominated books, debated and selected the book deemed "the most worthwhile read in Canada."

Nominated by the director of the Toronto International Film Festival, Cameron Bailey, Ru beat four other works to win the award. Ru tells the story of a girl who left Saigon at the age of 10 because of the war, traveling by sea to settle in Montreal, Quebec. The book's content is inspired by the author's own life. Cameron Bailey commented: "Ru is one of millions of stories about migration in this country. A heartbreaking story told with masterful writing that makes it beautiful. This is a story about the future of Canada, a nation of ancient Indigenous peoples reaching out to connect with the world."

Vietnamese-Canadian author Kim Thúy has had her debut novel "Ru" win accolades at international awards.

Surprised by the award, writer Kim Thúy shared: "Once again, this award proves that my life truly is a fairy tale and Ru has been rescued by princes. I don't know how to express it, I feel like I'm far from home. Today I want to be in my hometown."

Born in Saigon in 1968, Kim Thúy left Vietnam at the age of 10 to work in Canada as a seamstress, translator, lawyer, restaurant owner in Montreal, and food commentator on Canadian television and radio. She currently lives in Montreal.

Ru is Kim Thúy's debut novel, published in 2009, and immediately became a bestseller in France. The rights to the book have since been sold to 25 countries, including China and Arabic-speaking countries. In 2010, the novel won the Governor General's Awards and the Prix du Grand Public Salon du livre de Montréal.

In 2012, Ru was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Man Asian Literary Prize. Following Ru, the author's second novel, titled Man, is set in Canada and tells the story of a love affair between a Vietnamese chef and a married head chef from Paris.

This year, four other books were nominated alongside Ru: And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier, Intolerable, A Memoir of Extremes by Kamal Al-Solaylee, The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King, and When Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid.

According to VNE