Cleaving

Isabelle Thuy Pelaud is Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and Cofounder and Executive Director of the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN).   Lan P. Duong is Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Southern California. Her collection of poetry, Nothing Follows, was published in 2023.Viet Thanh Nguyen is author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel and New York Times bestseller The Sympathizer; its sequel, The Committed; and, most recently, the memoir A Man of Two Faces.

"It has been 50 years since the war ended in Vietnam, yet for decades afterward Vietnamese writers have rarely been published in the English language. The Cleaving is remarkable in making amends, featuring three dozen writers, poets, and artists in the Vietnamese diaspora in paired dialogues. The result is an affecting kaleidoscope of perspectives and feelings that tears away the Western image of the country."

• ContentsForeword Viet Thanh NguyenAcknowledgments INTRODUCTION:A CLEAVING, A LEAVING, A HEAVING Lan P. Duong1 • On Violence: There and Here Kim Thúy and Ocean Vuong Doan Bui and Beth (Bich) Minh Nguyen Bao Phi and Dao Strom Cathy Linh Che and Diana Khoi Nguyen 2 • Authorship and Authority: The Americas and Việt Nam Monique Truong and Viet Thanh Nguyen Lan Cao and Vincent Lam Amy Quan Barry and Thanhhà Lại 3 • Writing Feminism and Disobedience Hoai Huong Aubert-Nguyen and Vaan Nguyen Abbigail Nguyen Rosewood and Violet Kupersmith Thi Bui and Thảo Nguyễn Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and Hoa Nguyen 4 • Representation, Writing, Reception Le Ly Hayslip and Dương Vân Mai Elliott Anna Möi and Aimee Phan Andrew X. Pham and Marcelino Trương Lực Tracey Lien and André Dao 5 • Form and Future T.K. Lê and Duy Đoàn Hieu Minh Nguyen and Matt Huynh Philip Nguyễn, Paul Tran, and Minh Huynh Vu Conclusion: On Being a Writer at the Border Isabelle Thuy PelaudCoda Viet Thanh Nguyen, Lan P. Duong, and Isabelle Thuy PelaudNotes Works Cited About the Contributors Index