A onetime Vietnamese refugee on the complex road to American greatness
Before Viet Thanh Nguyen became the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the novel “The Sympathizers,” he was a 4-year-old boy uprooted from war-torn Vietnam and transported to a refugee camp in the United States.
Nguyen’s experience as a refugee marked his journey towards becoming an American in crucial ways. He describes the experience of being both a refugee and an American as being “split in two.”
In this recording, Viet Thanh Nguyen reads from his essay “America in Me” and his short story collection “The Refugees,” then takes questions from his audience. Nguyen is a professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.
He spoke at the Seattle Public Library on February 24. Sonya Harris recorded the event.
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John O'Brien
Senior Producer, All Things Considered
John O’Brien is KUOW's All Things Considered Senior Producer. He spends his days setting up interviews with newsmakers on subjects from politics and public health to arts and culture. John learned to make radio starting in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds.
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