Latest news with #VietThanhNguyen
Al Arabiya
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Arabiya
Pulitzer-winning novel 'James' is up for another major honor
Percival Everett's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel James is up for another literary honor. Everett's dramatic retelling of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a fiction nominee for the 20th annual Dayton Literary Peace Prize, which comes with a $10,000 cash award. Besides the Pulitzer, James has also won the National Book Award and Kirkus Prize. David Greenberg's John Lewis, a biography of the late civil rights activist and congressman, is a nonfiction finalist, the Dayton prize foundation announced Thursday. Winners in both categories will be announced in September. The other fiction contenders are Priscilla Morris' Black Butterflies, Alejandro Puyana's Freedom Is a Feast, Kristin Hannah's The Women, Helen Benedict's The Good Deed, and Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! Besides John Lewis, the nonfiction nominees are Sunil Amrith's The Burning Earth, Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor's Solidarity, Annie Jacobsen's Nuclear War, Lauren Markham's A Map of Future Ruins, and Wendy Pearlman's The Home I Worked to Make. Established in 1995 and named for the historic agreements that ended the war in Bosnia, the Dayton prizes are given to authors whose work demonstrates the power of the written word to foster peace. Previous winners include Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer, Edwidge Danticat's Brother, I'm Dying, and Ta-Nehisi Coates' We Were Eight Years in Power.
Al Jazeera
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
How ICE raids echo US wars abroad, with Viet Thanh Nguyen
What does it mean to be the 'other'? Viet Thanh Nguyen, a South Vietnamese-born American writer links his personal story to US actions abroad and at home, discussing ICE raids, protests, and the war on Gaza, showing how these issues are deeply connected.
Al Jazeera
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Jazeera
The Take: How ICE raids echo US wars abroad, with Viet Thanh Nguyen
What does it mean to be the 'other'? Viet Thanh Nguyen, a South Vietnamese-born American writer links his personal story to US actions abroad and at home, discussing ICE raids, protests, and the war on Gaza, showing how these issues are deeply connected. In this episode: Episode credits: This episode was produced by Chloe K Li, Sonia Bhagat, and Haleema Shah with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Mariana Navarrete, Sari el-Khalili, Kisaa Zehra, Remas Alhawari, Marcos Bartolome, and guest host Natasha Del Toro. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz. Joe Plourde mixed this episode. The Take production team is Marcos Bartolome, Sonia Bhagat, Sari el-Khalili, Tamara Khandaker, Phillip Lanos, Chloe K Li, Ashish Malhotra, Haleema Shah, Khaled Soltan, Amy Walters, and Noor Wazwaz. Our editorial interns are Remas Alhawari, Kingwell Ma, Mariana Navarrete, and Kisaa Zehra. Our guest host is Kevin Hirten. Our engagement producers are Adam Abou-Gad and Vienna Maglio. Aya Elmileik is lead of audience engagement. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Joe Plourde mixed this episode. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
Tatler Asia
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
Pride Month reads: 9 LGBTQ-themed books by Asian authors to add to your reading list
2. 'The Sympathiser' by Viet Thanh Nguyen Above 'The Sympathiser' by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Corsair) In this Pulitzer-winning work of literary fiction, Viet Thanh Nguyen crafts a Vietnamese narrator who is a conflicted double agent and also bisexual—a fact integrated into a wider meditation on duality, secrecy and betrayal. The queerness is not central, but it emerges as part of the novel's broader refusal to conform to ideological or emotional binaries. 3. 'Shoko's Smile' by Choi Eunyoung Above 'Shoko's Smile' by Choi Eunyoung (John Murray Publishers Ltd) This collection of short stories from South Korea includes understated explorations of queer friendship, lost love and unspoken grief. Choi's strength lies in her emotional precision. In particular, the story 'Xin Chào, Shoko' traces the intimacy between two women across national and linguistic boundaries without relying on dramatic declarations. 4. 'Notes of a Crocodile' by Qiu Miaojie Above 'Notes of a Crocodile' by Qiu Miaojie (NYRB) A landmark in queer Asian fiction, this cult classic by Qiu Miaojin is structured as the diary of Lazi, a university student navigating lesbian desire and social alienation in 1990s Taipei. Fragmented, raw and intensely personal, the novel captures the emotional volatility of youth while offering a politically charged portrait of queer life under pressure. 5. 'The Wandering' by Intan Paramaditha Above 'The Wandering' by Intan Paramaditha (Vintage Digital) This speculative novel by Indonesian author Intan Paramaditha uses a choose-your-own-adventure structure to follow a woman who trades her soul for the freedom to travel. Queer themes arise organically throughout the narrative, which questions agency, sexuality and power without offering tidy resolutions. The form is experimental but the questions are deeply human. 6. 'She of the Mountains' by Vivek Shraya Above 'She of the Mountains' by Vivek Shraya (Arsenal Pulp Press) In this myth-meets-modern novel, South Asian Canadian artist Vivek Shraya weaves together the story of a bisexual boy growing up in Canada with a retelling of the Parvati and Shiva myth. The structure is lyrical and nonlinear, blending divine and human love to challenge binaries of gender and belief. It's a hybrid work that defies genre without losing narrative clarity. 7. 'Small Beauty' by Jia Qing Wilson-Yang Above 'Small Beauty' by Jia Qing Wilson-Yang (Metonymy Press) Set in small-town Canada, this introspective novel follows Mei, a mixed-race trans woman returning to her cousin's home after his death. Quiet and meditative, the story offers a nuanced portrayal of trans identity within the Chinese Canadian community. There's no dramatic arc, just a sustained attention to memory, grief and the complexity of belonging. 8. 'Patron Saints of Nothing' by Randy Ribay Above 'Patron Saints of Nothing' by Randy Ribay (Stripes Publishing) This young-adult novel follows a Filipino American teenager who travels to Manila after the death of his cousin during Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's drug war. While the protagonist is straight, one of the key characters is gay, and his sexuality is handled with restraint and care. It's a nuanced portrayal of queerness within a broader examination of justice and diaspora. 9. 'The Henna Wars' by Adiba Jaigirdar Above 'The Henna Wars' by Adiba Jaigirdar (Hodder Children's Books) Set in contemporary Ireland, this YA romance centres on a Bangladeshi Irish teenager navigating her first crush—who also happens to be her business rival. Like many LGBTQ books that blend cultural specificity with teen drama, Adiba Jaigirdar's debut doesn't dwell on trauma. It offers instead a grounded, charming take on queer love in a conservative family setting. Each of these books offers something more than simple visibility. They frame queerness through distinctly Asian lenses, challenging the idea that queer identity is monolithic or Western by default. As more LGBTQ books emerge from across Asia and its diaspora, readers are offered a richer, more complicated portrait of queer life—one shaped by language, geography and generational change. NOW READ Pride on screen: 5 memorable LGBTQIA+ characters in Philippine cinema Reading list for bibliophiles: 10 page-turning books about books 6 books about menopause that tell it like it is
New York Times
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Susan Choi: ‘I Feel I've Read Nothing but Great Books Recently'
In an email interview, the author talked about how 'Flashlight' grew out of a short story, and what it would be like to read James Joyce the way her grandfather did. SCOTT HELLER What books are on your night stand? This is constantly in flux, but right this minute Viet Thanh Nguyen's 'To Save and to Destroy' and Marie-Helene Bertino's 'Exit Zero.' Describe your ideal reading experience. I just experienced it. I had started reading Amity Gaige's absolutely riveting new novel, 'Heartwood,' and I literally could not put it down, but I had sworn to myself that I would go to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to see the cherry blossoms, because this is one of my very favorite times of the year. So then I had this huge internal struggle — blossoms or book? — which was resolved when I took the book to the blossoms. What's the best book you've ever received as a gift? My older son gave me Ben Lerner's 'The Hatred of Poetry' for Christmas one year, I think to express his own feelings, since I actually love poetry. Remembering this cracks me up. I don't think I've properly answered the question. What's the last great book you read? See under 'Heartwood,' but actually I feel I've read nothing but great books recently. I just finished André Alexis' new collection, 'Other Worlds,' and true to the title I was transported. It's incredible. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
