Instructions on how to take the 2026 UPU letter writing exam by examiners

The launching ceremony of the 55th UPU international letter writing contest (2026) took place on the morning of December 19 in Hanoi, with the theme “Write a letter to a friend, explaining why human connection is necessary in the digital world”.

Poet Tran Dang Khoa, head of the jury in Vietnam, commented that UPU’s annual exam questions were good because they all mentioned major global issues. But the 2026 exam is “the best ever”.

He commented that this is the age of connectivity and the digital era, but people themselves are losing connection. They can even “lose each other as soon as they are together”, for example, families sit together during activities, but each person has a phone and does their own business.

The poet believes that not only individuals but also nations need connection, which will lead to mutual understanding and sympathy, no more “war, bloodshed, human tragedy”.

Journalist Do Thi Thanh Binh believes that this year’s theme will be fertile ground for students to be creative. Poet and Doctor of Education Nguyen Thi Anh also rated the topic as very good, in the context of young people using technology like breathing every day.

Ms. Anh sees this as an international social essay proposal, so students should start the letter as they would when writing an essay: using real experiences, observations, and emotions. In addition, they should find more numbers and information to explain the “looseness” in human connection and the consequences.

From the experience of winning national awards twice, Le Minh Anh, a former student of Hanoi – Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, learned the secret of being yourself, using real and sincere words in your letter. In addition, candidates need to carefully research the topic to choose the message and role of the recipient/sender, creating a personal impression for the essay.

2026 is the 38th time the UPU letter writing contest is held in Vietnam. Letters are required to be written in prose, no longer than 800 words, and not published in a newspaper or book.

Students send letters by closing envelopes, affixing postage stamps, clearly stating the address, and sending them to Tien Phong Tien Phong and Children Newspaper through the post office system of Vietnam Post Corporation. Mail receipt time is from December 19 to March 5, 2026 (according to postmark).

The organizing committee will award one first prize, three second prizes, 5 third prizes, 30 consolation prizes, 61 Promising Writer prizes, 10 Idea Initiation prizes. The 10 most actively participating, quality and creative schools will receive the Collective award.

The letter winning the national first prize will be sent to the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in Switzerland, with an English or French translation.

This year, a letter to director James Cameron from Pham Doan Minh Khue, a student at Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted (Da Nang), passed more than 1.6 million exams to win the international second prize.

With the question “Imagine you are the ocean, write a letter to someone explaining why and how they should take good care of and protect you”, Khue transformed into Ocean, using a series of strong verbs and adjectives to describe the ocean’s emergency, begging the famous director to make a film to awaken humanity.