One of the rites of spring is the return of Just Buffalo Literary Center’s BABEL series and on Friday, March 23rd, the season resumes with Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen (pronounced: Vee-et Ten Win) at 8:00 pm at Kleinhans Music Hall (3 Symphony Circle). 



Nguyen’s two books of fiction, The Sympathizer (Grove Press) and The Refugees (Grove Press), seek to “fill out” the history of the Vietnam War. While many Americans are aware of the effects of the conflict in terms of political tensions at home with the anti-war movement, or the stigmatization and difficulties many Vietnam veterans experienced, few know that, for example, it is referred to in Vietnam as the “US War.” Even less thought is given to the lives of millions of Southeast Asians that were disrupted or prematurely ended.

Nguyen’s life offers him a unique vantage point. Born in Vietnam in 1971, Nguyen was separated from his family at the age of 4 when he arrived in the US as a refugee in 1975, moving in with a white family in Pennsylvania. Later he was reunited with his natural family in California.

Nguyen’s work is particularly important for Buffalo. As Just Buffalo Literary Center’s Artistic Director Barbara Cole said when she announced Nguyen’s appearance at BABEL, “In honor of Buffalo’s proud record of welcoming more than 2,000 refugees this year alone from around the globe and ranking 8th in the country for the number of Syrian families who have resettled here in our community, we will read Nguyen’s latest book, The Refugees. This beautiful collection of short stories explores universal and urgent themes of love and family, the histories we hold within us and the people ‘we can’t afford to forget’.”

The evening will provide a rare opportunity to meet the author, learn about his work, and ask him questions. After Nguyen’s talk, there will be an audience-generated Q&A. Audience questions can be submitted prior to the event by email (submissions@justbuffalo.org) or at the event on index cards. Following the Q&A, the author will sign books. Talking Leaves Books, the official BABEL bookseller, has copies of Nguyen’s books at their Elmwood location and will also sell books at Kleinhans the night of the event.