Ly Lan just won the 2009 "Giai thuong hoi nha van thanh pho HCM" with her "Tieu Thuyet Dan Ba" [Woman Novel]. Among Vietnamese writers, Ly Lan stands out as an author of the Mekong Delta, of mixed immigrant and native descent, of the generation that knew the war as children and joined adult ranks in the optimism of reunification and its attendant progress for women, and among those who have flourished in the quasi-privatization and definite globalization of the Saigon publishing world since 1986. Among literary talents I have worked with on three continents Lan is remarkable for her level head and frequent freedom from self-regard, a quality of character reflected in her years of service in teaching, journalism, and translation and widely recognized by her peers. She is now beginning to speak forcefully as her own talent, as evidenced in the new novel and its reception. See her Wikivietlit entry with bibliography at: http://www.vietnamlit.org/wiki/index.php?title=Ly_Lan her bibliography of works online at: http://www.vietnamlit.org/wiki/index.php?title=Ly_Lan_online her VNLP page of work in translation with teaching guides and interview by Lily Chiu at: http://www.vietnamlit.org/lylan/stories.html her VNLP comic by Jon Hill at: http://www.vietnamlit.org/comics/lylan.pdf