ÁCCENTED #52 | Thi Bui & Vu Tran

Описание: This is a recording of DVAN's 52nd episode of ÁCCENTED, featuring writers Thi Bui & Vu Tran in conversation with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen & Philip Nguyen! The virtual conversation was recorded on January 15, 2026.

ABOUT THE GUESTS
THI BUI is a writer and artist from Việt Nam, California, and New York, now planting roots in New Orleans. Best known for her graphic memoir, The Best We Could Do, which tells the story of her family amidst Việt Nam's struggles for independence, she has also been a longtime educator in public high schools, a professor of comics, a public speaker, an organizer and artist-activist, an ambivalent sculptor and puppeteer, a fledgling screenwriter, and an award-winning illustrator of children’s books and comics journalism.

VU TRAN is the author of Dragonfish, a NYT Notable Book, and a forthcoming novel, Your Origins. His writing has also appeared in the O. Henry Prize Stories, Best American Mystery Stories, Ploughshares, Virginia Quarterly, and McSweeney’s, among other publications. He is the recipient of a Whiting Award and fellowships from the NEA, MacDowell, Yaddo, and Bread Loaf. Born in Saigon and raised in Oklahoma, Vu received his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and his PhD from the Black Mountain Institute in Las Vegas. He teaches English and Creative Writing at the University of Chicago, where he is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Arts and director of undergraduate studies.

ABOUT THE HOSTS
Viet Thanh Nguyen is a writer, co-founder of DVAN, and professor at the University of Southern California. His debut novel, The Sympathizer, won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and numerous other awards. His other books include: Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (2016), The Refugees (2017), The Committed (2021), and A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial (2023), and To Save and to Destroy (2025).

Philip Nguyen is the Executive Director of the Vietnamese American Roundtable (VAR). He holds an M.A. in Asian American Studies from San Francisco State University, where he currently teaches Vietnamese American literature and history. Philip has worked with various community organizations to advocate for and amplify Vietnamese American voices, including DVAN and PIVOT.

ABOUT DVAN
The Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) is dedicated to moving the voices and stories of the Vietnamese diaspora from the margins to the center. For over 20 years, DVAN has uplifted diasporic writers and artists through community events, writing residencies, and publishing opportunities, ensuring their perspectives reshape and expand the broader cultural narrative. Learn more at dvan.org.

ABOUT ÁCCENTED
ÁCCENTED is DVAN’s acclaimed talk show and podcast, hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen and community leader Philip Nguyen. Since launching in 2020, ÁCCENTED has become a global platform for dynamic, thought-provoking conversations that amplify the voices of writers, poets, visual artists, and other cultural producers of the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian diaspora.