Ferguson: From a Millimeter to a Mile
Michael Eric Dyson’s “Where Do We Go after Ferguson?” made diaCRITICS editor Viet Thanh Nguyen think about how hard it is to change attitudes about race. …(read more)
May 12 2021
Essays
The “Real Personages” of The Sympathizer
The author writes about the real people who appear in his forthcoming novel, The Sympathizer. I received the copyedited manuscript of my novel today. Attached…(read more)
Refugee Memories
‘Refugee Memories and Asian American Critique’ was originally published in positions: asia critique, volume 20, number 20, pages 911-942 (2012). Shades of Past,…(read more)
Just Memory: War and the Ethics of Remembrance
“Just Memory: War and the Ethics of Remembrance” was originally published in American Literary History, volume 25, issue no. 1, pages 144 – 163 (Spring…(read more)
This Is My Rifle, This Is My Gun
…this is for fighting, this is for fun. This is an article about the recent massacre of six Sikh Americans by a white supremacist…(read more)
On the Uses of Rage and Anger
There are some things we should be angry about, but we need to be artful in expressing that anger. The issue here is that…(read more)
On (Not) Being Vietnamese
Tet passed recently, and Vietnamese holidays always make me think about what it means to be Vietnamese, or not Vietnamese. I’m less interested in…(read more)
War, Memory and the Future
“War, Memory and the Future” was originally published in The Asian American Literary Review, volume 2, issue no. 1, pages 277 – 288 (Winter/Spring…(read more)
Trịnh Công Sơn, Movie Star: A Review of Đất Khổ (Land of Sorrows)
I didn’t know Trinh Cong Son was in a movie until I saw Đất Khổ (Land of Sorrows). Filmed in 1971, the movie is set…(read more)
This Is All I Choose To Tell: Isabelle Thuy Pelaud’s New Book
I was twenty-one years old when I started studying for my doctorate in English. Isabelle Thuy Pelaud was a friend of mine, and had…(read more)
Eye-Level: The Photographs of Jamie Maxtone-Graham
I saw Jamie Maxtone-Graham’s work long before I met him. I didn’t know his was the work I was seeing. This was back in…(read more)
Experimental Vietnamese Music
So who says that Vietnamese music is all about sad songs and Trinh Cong Son and cai luong and Linda Trang Dai? Not C-drik.…(read more)
Luke Nguyen in Viet Nam: Vietnamese Cuisine Goes Global
Vietnamese cuisine continues its slow ascent onto the gourmet charts. First we have the globalization of pho, which has inspired restaurant names like Photastic,…(read more)
Grunts vs. Gooks: Vietnam War Literature and Marlantes’ Matterhorn
Matterhorn, a novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes I’ll admit it. I’m a Vietnam War junkie, ever since watching Apocalypse Now and…(read more)
Paradise and Prisons: New York Times on the Con Dao Islands
The beach at Con Son island Vietnam is apparently going the way of Thailand. The New York Times wrote recently about the Con Dao Islands, once the site…(read more)
Bui Thac Chuyen’s Choi Voi (Adrift)
I just saw Bui Thac Chuyen’s film Choi Voi (Adrift) at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Bui Thac Chuyen is the director of Song Trong…(read more)
