Lao poet Dara Kanlaya, better known for her pen nameDouangchampa, has won the ASEAN Sunthorn Phu Award 2013 in Thailand,according to the Lao News Agency KPL.
Dara is ahigh-profile author, having produced some 60 short stories, over 90poems, seven novels, and a two-hour play, "Boua Deng", selected by theLao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism. She was the first Laopoet honoured with this award.
The awarding ceremonywas held at the Thai National Culture Hall in Bangkok on June 26,drawing poets from ten ASEAN member countries.
Dara,73, a poet with national outstanding performances in various fields inpoetry and writing, had received the SEA Write Award in 2010 and theNational Artist in the Literature Category. The Sunthorn Phu Award wasorganised by the Ministry of Culture of Thailand , entitled to theThai first-class poet Sunthorn Phu.
Sunthorn Phu wasrecognised as an Important Person of the World by UNESCO, on theoccasion of 200th anniversary of his birthday (1786-1986). The ASEANSunthorn Phu Award is issued to promote and exalt talented poets fromASEAN member countries. Dara Kanlaya or Douangchampa is a poet who hashad great acknowledgments within the Lao society for 50 years.
She had been a pioneer of Lao Palm Leaf Manuscripts Protection Projectfrom 1988 to 2004 and for National Reading Promotion Project since 1992.
Dara's writing theme mostly deals with women’s issuesand gender, promoting a better living standard for women througheducation. She also works as curator of old palm-leaf manuscripts, andstudies classic Lao literature.-VNA