WIDA | Keynote Speaker: Viet Thanh Nguyen

This conference, by teachers, for teachers, is the premier event for educators of PreK-12 multilingual learners, giving educators the opportunity to share best practices and discover innovative classroom strategies.

The in-person conference will take place October 28-30, 2025 in Seattle, Washington under the theme “igniting innovation for multilingual learners.” Viet Thanh Nguyen will be among the selected in-person keynote speakers.

Viet Thanh Nguyen is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, university professor and powerful voice for the immigrant and refugee experience, Viet brings a depth of insight and humanity that will resonate deeply with educators of multilingual learners. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Sympathizer. Beyond his fiction, Viet’s nonfiction work—like Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War—challenges us to rethink memory, identity and belonging across cultures. Viet’s journey from a Vietnamese refugee resettled in Pennsylvania and California to a celebrated professor and literary force at the University of Southern California is a powerful testament to the transformative power of education, language and perseverance. His work and life reflect the issues that multilingual learners and their teachers navigate every day: cultural adaptation, linguistic identity, displacement and resilience. His keynote promises to challenge, inspire and affirm the critical work of educators who are shaping the next generation.