Writers in Dialogue: TMU welcomes acclaimed author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai in conversation with Hoa Nguyen

The award-winning Vietnamese poet and internationally bestselling novelist Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is coming to Toronto! Joining us in person to discuss her latest novel, Dust Child, Que Mai will read from the book, talk about her research and writing process with the award-winning poet Hoa Nguyen, and perform her poetry in Vietnamese and English. She will also take your questions.

We look forward to welcoming you to an event that promises to be fun, thought-provoking, and intimate. Quế Mai is traveling a long way to be with us. She can't wait to see you. We will have copies of her books for sale, which she can sign and personalize for you.

About Dust Child

From the internationally bestselling author of The Mountains Sing, a suspenseful and moving saga about family secrets, hidden trauma, and the overriding power of forgiveness. Told in the voices of two Vietnamese sisters, an American veteran, as well as the child of a Black American soldier and a Vietnamese woman, Dust Child tells an unforgettable and immersive story of how those who inherited tragedy can redefine their destinies through love, hard-earned wisdom, compassion, courage, and joy.

Praised by the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen as "Another triumph! Powerful and deeply empathetic" and by Library Journal as “achingly honest and ultimately hopeful; essential reading for U.S. audiences", Dust Child has been voted a best book of December by Library Journal and a most anticipated book of the year by many publications including BookPage, Salon Magazine, San Diego Union Tribune, Orange County Register, Zibby Magazine, Trenzle Magazine, She Reads, Beyond the Bookends and We Are Bookish.

About Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Born and raised in Việt Nam, Dr Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is the author of The Mountains Sing, runner-up for the 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, winner of the 2020 BookBrowse Best Debut Award, the 2021 International Book Awards, the 2021 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, and the 2020 Lannan Literary Award Fellowship for Fiction. She has published twelve books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and has received some of the top literary prizes in Việt Nam. Her writing has been translated into twenty languages and has appeared in major publications, including the New York Times. She has a PhD in creative writing from Lancaster University. She is an advocate for the rights of disadvantaged groups in Việt Nam and was named by Forbes Vietnam as one of twenty inspiring women of 2021. For more information, visit: www.nguyenphanquemai.com (external link) 

About Hoa Nguyen:  

Hoa Nguyen is the author of several books including Red Juice: Poems 1998 - 2008 and the Griffin Prize nominated Violet Energy Ingots. Her latest collection of poems, A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure was a finalist for a 2021 National Book Award, the General Governor’s Literary Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. She is a member of She Who Has No Masters, a collective of womxn and nonbinary writers of the Vietnamese diaspora who engage in collaborative, polyvocal, and hybrid-poetic works to enact a politics of connection across diasporic boundaries.  In 2019, her body of work was nominated for a Neustadt Prize for Literature, a prestigious international literary award often compared with the Nobel Prize in Literature. For more about Hoa Nguyen, you can visit her website at https://www.hoa-nguyen.com/ (external link) 

Monday, April 10 at 6:30 PM 

Where: JORG 1402

This event is free and open to the public.