Composer Hoàng Việt and a Radical Romance Across the North-South Border
In a country fractured by ideology, Hoàng Việt's love for his wife Ngọc Hạnh persisted like a secret melody carried across closed borders by weak radio signals, and letters that had to circle the glob...
New 'Số Đỏ' Movie Announced, Directed by Phan Gia Nhật Linh, Starring MONO
Another classic of Vietnamese literature is heading to the big screen in the near future.
Thi Nguyễn in Loạt Soạt
Revisiting the Delicious Satirical Society of 'Số Đỏ' by Vũ Trọng Phụng
Published in 1938, Dumb Luck, or Số Đỏ, remains one of Vietnam's most popular and controversial novels. Vũ Trọng Phụng was fined by the French colonial administration in Hanoi in 1932 for his stark po...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Examining the Role of Shame in Building a National Identity via Vietnam's Thinkers
“Shame, rather than pride, can be the basis for national identity… individuals may be motivated to move their country in a desirable direction when national shame outweighs pride.”
Paul Christiansen in Literature
5 Books by Vietnamese Authors Centered on Strong Female Protagonists
Literature, more than any other art form, allows people an intimate vantage point from which to witness the experiences, emotions, and thoughts of individuals drastically different from themselves. Bo...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
In 'Water: A Chronicle,' Nguyễn Ngọc Tư Wades Into the Mekong via Vignettes
“When you’ve lived to a certain age, you don’t ask whether or not something is true, you ask which truth it is.”
Nam Cao's Radical Sympathy and Pursuit of Happiness Are Still Relevant Even Today
What messages would a young writer living in colonial times want to impart to the youth of the 21st century?
Paul Christiansen in Literature
These 5 Vietnamese Poems Pay Homage to the Complexities of Local Fruits
Fruit and poetry: the two things I love most.
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
'Longings' Brings 22 Stories by Vietnamese Female Writers to the World
Where are all the female writers?
Linh Phạm in Trích or Triết
The Life, Death and Legacy of 7 Pillars of Vietnam's Quốc Ngữ Literary Wealth
When I first started as a writer, I noticed that I couldn’t write in Vietnamese very well, despite the fact that I was born here. Most of my English vocabulary comes from books, so in order to improve...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Social Commentary, Empathy in Nguyễn Quang Thân's Short Story Collection
Nguyễn Quang Thân passed away on March 4, 2017, several weeks before I moved to Saigon. So of course I never met him, but I feel like I know him. My first introduction was via An Insignificant Family,...
Paul Christiansen in Literature
How Nam Cao Almost Ruined My Favorite Canal Cafe
Spoilers for an 80-year-old story that every student in the nation is required to read: the dog dies, the old man dies, his son's misfortunes show no sign of abetting. Simply, misery abounds at the en...
A World of Riveting Medically Inspired Magic in Vanessa Le's YA Debut
Captured by Butchers, the “blackmarket bogey men who deal in rare goods,” Nhika Suonyasan is caged and auctioned off to the city’s elite. A figure in a fox mask attempting to purchase her is outbid by...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Khải Đơn's Poetry Debut Won't Shy Away From the Mekong Delta's Untold Complexities
Environmental devastation, irresponsible development, economic imperilment, social ills, war legacies and the abandonment of cultural traditions and connections: these multifaceted, interconnected rea...
Viet Thanh Nguyen Memoir 'A Man of Two Faces' Releases Today
A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, a History, a Memorial, the new book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen arrives from Grove City Press on October 3.
Ocean Vuong Brings Vietnamese Text, Original Photos to Helmut Lang Collection
Peter Do, the recently named Creative Director of the storied fashion brand Helmut Lang, enlisted writer Ocean Vuong to provide text and photos for his debut collection.
Paul Christiansen in Music & Arts
In Huế, an Interdisciplinary Exhibition Opens Literal and Metaphorical Doors
“I cannot stop opening doors,” Phan Lê Hà said in regard to the physical objects that reappear throughout her creative works.
Paul Christiansen in Literature
In Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai's New Novel, Saigon's Rhythms Hum in the Background
“I’m always homesick for Vietnam. To write is to return home. That's why I had to bring Vietnam alive onto the pages. I had to hear the people speak, I had to listen to the music, to the language; I h...
Linh Phạm in Trích or Triết
In Xuân Diệu's Tender Poetry, a Reminder to Love Honestly and Courageously
“Tenderly, fondly, Xuân Diệu held on to my wrist, caressing it up and down. Our eyes locked in affection…Xuân Diệu loved me.”
'The Shard, the Tissue, an Affair': A Short Story by Andrew Lam
This short story is featured in Volume 2 of In My Ear, Your Voice Still Flickering // Bên tai tôi, giọng người vẫn chờn vờn, a three-part, bilingual collection of works by more than 20 Vietnamese arti...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
'The Chosen and the Beautiful,' a Queer, Magical, Asian American Gatsby Remix
“The Great Gatsby, but with an Asian American narrator and some of the characters are queer and there’s magic.” This is a fine elevator explanation for The Chosen and the Beautiful.
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
A Memoir Ruminates on Saigon in the Now and via Childhood Memories
Born in Saigon in 1977, Tuan Phan and his parents left for America via boat in 1986. Remembering Water includes depictions of the voyage including lengthy stops in refugee camps followed by acclimatio...
Paul Christiansen in Travel
Vignette: Letters to Hàn Mặc Tử
Quy Nhơn residents mentioned Hàn Mặc Tử with great pride and reverence whenever I mentioned enjoying reading and writing poems.
Khôi Phạm in Quãng 8
Hanoi Indie Duo Limebócx Brings Tried-and-Trù Traditions to Young Ears
A grazing buffalo, frolicking water puppets, mystifying tam cúc cards, an insolent maiden in áo tứ thân, a rustic meal around cái mâm. These are just a few standout visuals that will haunt your brain ...
On Táo's Transformation From Rapper to Curator of Good Taste
"The artist can’t reflect the truths of life if they don’t live, can they?"
Paul Christiansen in Travel
How a Film Turned a Historic H'Mông Homestead in Hà Giang Into a Tourist Attraction
The photos don’t do it justice. That’s what you’ll often hear from people who visit Hà Giang to cruise its famed highway loop.
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
The Fraught Human-Earth Dynamics in 'Revenge of Gaia,' a Collection of Vietnamese Eco-Fiction
Stories focusing on the natural world and humanity’s relationships with the environment existed before the term eco-literature became popular in the west in the 1970s, but since its coinage, writers a...
Linh Phạm in In Plain Sight
Hanoi's Literature Museum Is Not Neglected, but It's Not Thriving Either
From the side road of Âu Cơ Street, I turned into ngõ 275.
Khôi Phạm in Quãng 8
Hồ Trâm Anh Writes Music for Those Who Walk City Streets Yearning for the Open Sky
When I begin my interview with Hồ Trâm Anh, a light shower starts sprinkling over Saigon’s overcast maudlin sky. I apologize if any errant pitter-patter might distract our call, but Trâm Anh brushes i...
Q&A: Nguyễn Quí Đức on Tadioto, Zone 9, and How He Fell for Hanoi's Charms
Countless are the number of hours Hanoi creatives have spent sipping whisky and contemplating the world at the famous drinking hole that is Tadioto.
From Rapper to Singer-Songwriter: Minh Đinh and the Trials to Find Himself
Minh Đinh's journey of self-discovery is one that represents the effort of the multi-talented artists in the Vietnamese indie community.
Meet Humm, the Music Collective Blending Soft Tunes With Orchestral Instruments
Though palpably yearning in nature, Humm's music invites listeners to embark on a journey where healing is the quintessential experience.
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
'Bronze Drum,' an Entertaining, TV-Ready Reimagining of the Legend of Hai Bà Trưng
Turning a beloved but brief legend based on scant historical evidence into a page-turning novel is no easy task. But Phong Nguyen’s book Bronze Drum succeeds in depicting the upbringing and rebel...
Linh Phạm in Film & TV
Short Film 'Don't' Dreams of a World With an All-Asian Crime-Fighting Squad
One day, Sally Tran realized that many of her friends in New York City were going to self-defense classes and buying weapons to protect themselves in the city they call home.
Once Derided, 'Lục Xì' Is a Trail-Blazing Lesson in Nuanced Sympathy
Lục Xì is a reportage written by Vũ Trọng Phụng in the first volume of Tương Lai newspaper in 1937. In the series, Phụng describes his experiences visiting the dispensary (nhà lục xì) where prostitute...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
'Chronicles of a Village' Is an Avant-Garde Deconstruction of the Familiar Rural Vietnam
How would you tell the story of your birth soil?
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
How to Navigate Coming Out to Your Parents With the Help of 3 Fairy Tales
Sometimes stories can articulate what we cannot put into our own words. Fairy tales can function as long-form proverbs that allow people to identify and pass on important values, expectations and expe...
'My Father’s Bàng Tree': A Poem by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
This poem is featured in Volume 1 of In My Ear, Your Voice Still Flickering // Bên tai tôi, giọng người vẫn chờn vờn, a three-part, bilingual collection of works by more than 20 Vietnamese artists and...
Read Saigoneer's Literary Zine, Featuring 20 Works by Vietnamese Writers and Artists
In My Ear, Your Voice Still Flickering // Bên tai tôi, giọng người vẫn chờn vờn is a collection of work from twenty Vietnamese writers and artists released as part of the Miami Book Fair, one of ...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Saigoneer Bookshelf: Ocean Vuong Asks Questions in 'Time Is a Mother'
Fame and poetry rarely go together.
How Indie Book Publisher Bar De Force Marries Art, Literature and Translation
“A collision of literature and art on the pages” is the descriptor that Bar De Force, a Vietnamese independent press, gives itself.
Heartfelt, Queer and Wickedly Witty: How Poetry Collection 'Come Clean' Sparks Joy
Joshua Nguyen lists himself as many things on his Instagram bio — a writer, a PhD student, a boba snob. He received his MFA from the University of Mississippi, where he is currently studying for ...
Hanoi to Name 2 New Streets After Literary Couple Lưu Quang Vũ-Xuân Quỳnh
The Hanoi People’s Council has proposed naming two streets in Cầu Giấy District after Lưu Quang Vũ and Xuân Quỳnh, two of the most prominent poets in Vietnam's literary world.
Vũ Thanh Vân Makes Staying at Home Seem Effortlessly Cool
Vũ Thanh Vân is not a new name among indie music lovers, as she's well-known for her soothing voice in past singles like ‘Tori,’ ‘Hát Ru’ or ‘Lấy Chồng.’ When I finally meet Vân, I feel her quiet pres...
Literary Journal Áo Trắng Ceases Operations Today After 31 Years
Once a home for aspiring young writers to take their very first steps on their journey towards literary finesse, Áo Trắng will now close its doors for good.
Film Adaptation of Mạc Can's 'Tấm Ván Phóng Dao' Wins Award at Busan Project Market
If Wood Could Cry, It Would Cry Blood was awarded the ArteKino International Award as part of the 2021 Busan International Film Festival.
Vietnamese Novel 'The Mountains Sing' Honored by Prestigious US Peace Prize
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai was named the runner-up for this year's Dayton Literary Peace Prize in the fiction category.
Thơughtful: Chữ(a) Là(nh), a New Poetry Series to Raise Fund for Those in Need
“Chữ_là để chữa_lành,” or “words are for healing," is Bay Library’s motto for their poetry series. Amidst these difficult times, words have never abandoned people; they are here to heal, share, and sy...
Triệu Thị Chơi, Cookbook Author Extraordinaire, Passes Away Due to Covid-19
Growing up in the 1990s, many Saigoneers must have gotten used to the sight of Triệu Thị Chơi’s name embossed in the author position of many cookbooks.
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Saigoneer Bookshelf: 'A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure' Speaks Many Voices
When I first met Hoa Nguyen several years ago in Hanoi, it was her first trip back to Vietnam since she left as a child.
18-Year-Old Alexandra Huynh Named US' Next National Youth Poet Laureate
The second-generation Vietnamese-American 18-year-old who considers poetry a matter of self-expression and social justice will help spread and advocate for poetry in America.
Q&A: Shades of Hanoi, a Diary of Many Authors Writing Their Own Version of the City
For Long, Sơn and the young millennials penning Shades of Hanoi, writing is a brave act of self-reflection.
Park Chan-Wook to Direct TV Series Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen's 'The Sympathizer'
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2015 novel The Sympathizer will be getting a TV adaptation directed by Park Chan-wook, the auteur behind the success of The Handmaiden and Oldboy.
Q&A: An Interview With 'Raya and the Last Dragon' Co-Writer Qui Nguyen
When Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon was released in March, it was a cultural milestone for Southeast Asians. Raya is the first Southeast Asian Disney princess in the Walt Disney Company’s...
Saigoneer Podcast: 'Things We Lost to the Water' Author Eric Nguyen
We hope you had a good, safe holiday weekend!
Nguyễn Huy Thiệp, One of Vietnam's Most Celebrated Writers, Passes Away
Nguyễn Huy Thiệp, one of Vietnam's most talented and influential post-war authors, passed away on March 20 at the age of 71.
'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' by Ocean Vuong Is Being Adapted Into a Movie
A prominent work of contemporary Vietnamese-American fiction is being adapted for the big screen.
On Deep Reading the Poetic Works of Vietnamese Writer Nhã Thuyên
Reflections on Nhã Thuyên’s poem 'Traces of nothing' and other writings.
Saigoneer Bookshelf: In Poetry Collection 'OM,' Đặng Thân Embraces Human Turmoil
At the heart of Đặng Thân's poetry collection, OM [Other Moments], is the poetics of dichotomy: beauty and brutality, light and darkness, hope and despair, nihilism and existentialism.
'Blind Man' by Mimi Nguyen
The blind man knows the direction of destiny.
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Saigoneer Bookshelf: 'Other Moons' Aims to Amplify Voices of Vietnam's Wartime Writers
Why must we continue talking about war?
'The Worlds Between My Wings' by Kim Loan
From the time I began learning Vietnamese at home and English in public school, I have lived with dual identities pulling me from seemingly opposite ends of a spectrum.
This New Edition of 'Số Đỏ' Comes With Lively Illustrations by Thành Phong
If your grasp of the ingenious satire of Vũ Trọng Phụng’s Số Đỏ (Dumb Luck) is slipping, this newly published edition might prove helpful for brushing up before the film adaptation comes out.
'Con Ăn Cơm Chưa? | Have You Eaten Yet?' by Jessica Nguyen
it took me till my college years when saying “I love you” became a normal thing
Paul Christiansen in Literature
Saigoneer's Guide to What to Read While Social Distancing
“In good times arts are magical, and in tough times they are essential. That’s when you need them the most. Art makes you human.”
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Saigoneer Bookshelf: The Different Dealings of Trauma in 'Birds of Paradise Lost'
“I just can’t get the voices out my head,” Andrew Lam explains of his writing process.
Saigoneer Bookshelf: Finding Hong in Gangster Noir Thriller ‘Dragonfish’
For those of us who have read countless books by Vietnamese authors and members of the diaspora, the novel Dragonfish is not just one more installment of ethnic literature or postwar fiction.
Saigon Tet Book Festival Rakes in VND3.6bn, 28.5% More Than Last Year
The Book Street Festival was open for Tet from January 22 to 28.
Saigoneer Podcast: Tet Food Improvements and Writer Nguyen Phan Que Mai
The latest Saigoneer Podcast episode is available now!
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
'The Mountains Sing,' a Quintessential Vietnamese Novel, Written in Memories
As American bombers roared over the horizon preparing to drop fire and misery, air raid sirens screeched and people throughout Hanoi scrambled to find safety.
'The Sorrow of War' Author Bao Ninh to Release Part of New Novel
The excerpt will be released on December 25.
Khoi Pham in Film & TV
Review: When Indie Music Meets Indie Cinema on a Grab in Saigon
In today’s aggressive stream of Marvel blockbusters, doll- and shark-themed horror flicks, and gratuitous comedies, Troi Sang Roi, Ta Ngu Di Thoi (Good Morning and Good Night) is like a stubborn wild ...
'Your Shirt Button' and 'I Wander Alone' by Nguyen Quang Than
"You told me not to look at you, it’s silly / Yet I want to gnaw you the way I gnaw bread ... the pack of ravenous dogs looked at me with night sea eyes / I wish they could gnaw me piece by piece."
Paul Christiansen in Literature
A Radio Program Puts Vietnamese Poetry in the Limelight With Bilingual Readings
"Lanterns Hanging on the Wind" features 18 poems read in Vietnamese and translated into English that span themes, styles, time periods and locations to give listeners a broad introduction to the natio...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Saigoneer Bookshelf: A Touch of Magical Realism in 'The Cemetery of Chua Village'
Vietnam transitioned to a market economy like an old train lurching to life: momentous shakes and shudders, steam bursting out busted gaskets, disheveled cargo tumbling from luggage racks, sparks shoo...
Paul Christiansen in Literature
Meet the Author of the Most Important Vietnamese Novel You've Never Read
When the wind strafes Da Ngan’s window, seedpods shake and rattle like spent bullet casings in the tamarind tree that Americans planted decades ago. They also built the large apartment complex where s...
Paul Christiansen in Literature
Writer Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai Brings Vietnamese-English, North-South Closer
“You writers have blood on your hands,” a Vietnamese man once told Nguyen Phan Que Mai in reference to the ability of poetry, stories and songs to have inspired young men and women into wars that clai...
Thi Nguyen in Literature
On Reading Thi Bui's Illustrated Memoir 'The Best We Could Do' in Saigon
One of my favorite pastimes during summer holidays was reading through the textbooks for my next school year. History textbooks were the most interesting and fun to read: they were like the Harry Pott...
