Viet Thanh Nguyen
@vietthanhnguyen.bsky.social
I'm a writer. I don't believe in voices for the voiceless. Abolish the conditions of voicelessness instead.
Books include The Sympathizer, The Committed, A Man of Two Faces, The Refugees, and To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other.
Books include The Sympathizer, The Committed, A Man of Two Faces, The Refugees, and To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other.
Excited to return to South Carolina and visit Charleston for the first time this coming Sunday. I'll be talking about TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER and the struggle to confront the otherness within oneself, in one's nation, in one's writing. In conversation with critic Bilal Qureshi.
November 13, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Excited to return to South Carolina and visit Charleston for the first time this coming Sunday. I'll be talking about TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER and the struggle to confront the otherness within oneself, in one's nation, in one's writing. In conversation with critic Bilal Qureshi.
I posted this comment on the Daily Cal article and these are the comments. I had to look up "shabos goy."
"I'm proud of these students. They're keeping alive a great tradition of protest, conscience, and speaking truth to power that has been so important to many of us who went to Berkeley."
"I'm proud of these students. They're keeping alive a great tradition of protest, conscience, and speaking truth to power that has been so important to many of us who went to Berkeley."
November 11, 2025 at 10:14 PM
I posted this comment on the Daily Cal article and these are the comments. I had to look up "shabos goy."
"I'm proud of these students. They're keeping alive a great tradition of protest, conscience, and speaking truth to power that has been so important to many of us who went to Berkeley."
"I'm proud of these students. They're keeping alive a great tradition of protest, conscience, and speaking truth to power that has been so important to many of us who went to Berkeley."
One of the great antiwar poems, by Wilfred Owen, British veteran of World War I, ending with
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
(Latin for “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”)
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
(Latin for “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”)
Dulce et Decorum Est
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
www.poetryfoundation.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:00 PM
One of the great antiwar poems, by Wilfred Owen, British veteran of World War I, ending with
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
(Latin for “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”)
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
(Latin for “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”)
Reposted by Viet Thanh Nguyen
What better way to treat you or your bookish friend this holiday season than with a gift from one of the most prominent writers of our generation? Click the link below and get a personalized postcard from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen @vietthanhnguyen.bsky.social!
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Receive a handwritten note from Viet Thanh Nguyen: Vietnamese-American author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
buff.ly
November 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
What better way to treat you or your bookish friend this holiday season than with a gift from one of the most prominent writers of our generation? Click the link below and get a personalized postcard from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen @vietthanhnguyen.bsky.social!
Last time I spoke with Ocean Vuong was in 2017 at the Los Angeles Public Library. Delighted to speak with him again for ÁCCENTED: DIALOGUES IN DIASPORA, the podcast of the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network.
November 6, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Last time I spoke with Ocean Vuong was in 2017 at the Los Angeles Public Library. Delighted to speak with him again for ÁCCENTED: DIALOGUES IN DIASPORA, the podcast of the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network.
Hell yes
Mamdani: "My message to ICE agents & to everyone across this city is that everyone will be held to the same standard of the law. If you violate it, you must be held accountable. There is sadly a sense growing that certain people are allowed to violate that law, whether they be POTUS or ICE agents."
November 5, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Hell yes
I would have voted for @zohrankmamdani if I lived in NYC (and I’d be happy to take the place of anybody fleeing NYC) but I’m in California and voted for Prop. 50 today.
November 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
I would have voted for @zohrankmamdani if I lived in NYC (and I’d be happy to take the place of anybody fleeing NYC) but I’m in California and voted for Prop. 50 today.
Back in Austin! At the great Texas Book Festival, in conversation with Gregory Cowles.
November 4, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Back in Austin! At the great Texas Book Festival, in conversation with Gregory Cowles.
Excited to moderate this screening of two important docs, Cathy Linh Che's WE WERE THE SCENERY, about her parents' experiences being Vietnamese extras in Apocalypse Now--that movie should never be taught w/o Cathy's film--and THIRD ACT, about key director Robert Nakamura.
tinyurl.com/4nekzws8
tinyurl.com/4nekzws8
October 30, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Excited to moderate this screening of two important docs, Cathy Linh Che's WE WERE THE SCENERY, about her parents' experiences being Vietnamese extras in Apocalypse Now--that movie should never be taught w/o Cathy's film--and THIRD ACT, about key director Robert Nakamura.
tinyurl.com/4nekzws8
tinyurl.com/4nekzws8
People nitpicking on a cultural custom of calling a related elder an “aunt” but not outraged over Trump killing random people because he wants to are telling on themselves. And what they are telling is that they are racist and authoritarian.
October 29, 2025 at 1:10 AM
People nitpicking on a cultural custom of calling a related elder an “aunt” but not outraged over Trump killing random people because he wants to are telling on themselves. And what they are telling is that they are racist and authoritarian.
A really delightful honor for me to be associated with the storied @kenyonreview.bsky.social
October 23, 2025 at 1:12 AM
A really delightful honor for me to be associated with the storied @kenyonreview.bsky.social
I thought I wasn't qualified for ICE, but I am!
"Trump’s new recruits are failing the ICE fitness test—a modest challenge that requires just 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run in 14 minutes."
"Trump’s new recruits are failing the ICE fitness test—a modest challenge that requires just 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run in 14 minutes."
October 21, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I thought I wasn't qualified for ICE, but I am!
"Trump’s new recruits are failing the ICE fitness test—a modest challenge that requires just 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run in 14 minutes."
"Trump’s new recruits are failing the ICE fitness test—a modest challenge that requires just 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run in 14 minutes."
Tomorrow! Los Angeles! What was the first Vietnamese American novel I read? Trần Văn Dĩnh's Blue Dragon, White Tiger, first published in 1983.
October 21, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Tomorrow! Los Angeles! What was the first Vietnamese American novel I read? Trần Văn Dĩnh's Blue Dragon, White Tiger, first published in 1983.
It’s a hell of a ceasefire when you kill 38 Palestinian civilians, including children, partly due to your IDF bulldozer running over an IDF explosive killing two Israeli soldiers whose deaths you blame on Hamas.
October 20, 2025 at 6:34 PM
It’s a hell of a ceasefire when you kill 38 Palestinian civilians, including children, partly due to your IDF bulldozer running over an IDF explosive killing two Israeli soldiers whose deaths you blame on Hamas.
I'm excited to come back to West Virginia to give the McCreight Lecture, where I'll be talking about the power and danger of storytelling, especially in our United States today, where storytelling is inseparable from how we think of ourselves and our nation, who belongs and who doesn't.
October 18, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I'm excited to come back to West Virginia to give the McCreight Lecture, where I'll be talking about the power and danger of storytelling, especially in our United States today, where storytelling is inseparable from how we think of ourselves and our nation, who belongs and who doesn't.
I would vote for him if I could — because he is one veteran who actually sounds like he’s genuinely antifa
October 17, 2025 at 5:22 AM
I would vote for him if I could — because he is one veteran who actually sounds like he’s genuinely antifa
I finally get to host our podcast, ÁCCENTED: DIALOGUES IN DIASPORA, live, in San Francisco, this Saturday evening with our radio partner @KALW! Come see us live with authors Aimee Phan and Christina Vo.
www.eventbrite.com/e/accented-l...
www.eventbrite.com/e/accented-l...
October 16, 2025 at 7:10 PM
I finally get to host our podcast, ÁCCENTED: DIALOGUES IN DIASPORA, live, in San Francisco, this Saturday evening with our radio partner @KALW! Come see us live with authors Aimee Phan and Christina Vo.
www.eventbrite.com/e/accented-l...
www.eventbrite.com/e/accented-l...
Israel is mad that not all the bodies of the dead Israeli hostages have been returned. Perhaps it’s because Israel totally destroyed Gaza, and thousands of Palestinians remain unaccounted for beneath the same rubble?
October 14, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Israel is mad that not all the bodies of the dead Israeli hostages have been returned. Perhaps it’s because Israel totally destroyed Gaza, and thousands of Palestinians remain unaccounted for beneath the same rubble?
A Test Now for Israel: Can It Repair Its Ties to Americans?
www.nytimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 5:21 PM
I'm a huge fan of the musician Thao Nguyen, so it's amazing that I'll have the chance to share the stage with her at Litquake. She'll perform a new song written just for the occasion, inspired by my book TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER. How cool is that?
October 12, 2025 at 1:13 AM
I'm a huge fan of the musician Thao Nguyen, so it's amazing that I'll have the chance to share the stage with her at Litquake. She'll perform a new song written just for the occasion, inspired by my book TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER. How cool is that?
All you need to know
October 10, 2025 at 10:01 PM
All you need to know
Very much looking forward to talking to some amazing people, including old friends, in this online book chat about TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER. Come hang out with me and Saree Makdisi of UCLA, Ricky Rodriguez of UC Riverside, and Natalia Molina of USC.
October 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Very much looking forward to talking to some amazing people, including old friends, in this online book chat about TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER. Come hang out with me and Saree Makdisi of UCLA, Ricky Rodriguez of UC Riverside, and Natalia Molina of USC.
My copy of László Krasznahorkai’s The Melancholy of Resistance and a typical two pages. The whole book is formatted thusly. How many American writers would dare? I love the title too.
October 9, 2025 at 4:24 PM
My copy of László Krasznahorkai’s The Melancholy of Resistance and a typical two pages. The whole book is formatted thusly. How many American writers would dare? I love the title too.
The MacArthur Fellowship is a life-changing award. I'm glad to see two of them go to the artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen and the novelist Tommy Orange.
October 8, 2025 at 7:02 PM
The MacArthur Fellowship is a life-changing award. I'm glad to see two of them go to the artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen and the novelist Tommy Orange.