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The first and only book to gather the voices and perspectives of Vietnamese diasporic authors from across the globe.
Edited by Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, Lan P. Duong, and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Cleaving brings together Vietnamese artists and writers from around the world in conversation about their craft and how their work has been shaped and received by mainstream culture and their own communities. This collection highlights how Vietnamese diasporic writers speak about having been cleaved—a condition in which they have been separated from, yet still hew to, the country that they have left behind.
Composed of eighteen dialogues among thirty-seven writers from France, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Canada, Australia, Israel, and the United States, the book expands on the many lives that Vietnamese writers inhabit. The dialogues touch on family history, legacies of colonialism and militarism, and the writers' own artistic and literary achievements. Taken together, these conversations insist on a deeper reckoning with the conditions of displacement.
Featured writers: Hoai Huong Aubert-Nguyen, Amy Quan Barry, Doan Bui, Thi Bui, Lan Cao, Cathy Linh Che, André Dao, Duy Đoàn, Lan P. Duong, Dương Vân Mai Elliott, Le Ly Hayslip, Matt Huynh, Violet Kupersmith, Thanhhà Lại, Vincent Lam, T.K. Lê, Tracey Lien, Marcelino Trương Lực , Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Anna Möi, Beth (Bich) Minh Nguyen, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Hoa Nguyen, Philip Nguyễn, Thảo Nguyễn, Vaan Nguyen, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, Andrew X. Pham, Aimee Phan, Abbigail Nguyen Rosewood, Bao Phi, Dao Strom, Kim Thúy, Paul Tran, Monique Truong, Minh Huynh Vu, Ocean Vuong
"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."
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.
Foreword
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION:
A CLEAVING, A LEAVING, A HEAVING
Lan P. Duong
1 • 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 Pelaud
Coda
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Lan P. Duong, and Isabelle Thuy Pelaud
Notes
Works Cited
About the Contributors
Index