Author: DVAN at The Ruby

In the second reading of the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) at the Library Reading Series, we are honored to present writers and poets Susan Lieu, Thy Hope Luong, Aimee Phan and Alexandra Huynh. Come join us for a night of fun and hear these amazing women give readings of their work at The Ruby in San Francisco.

The Ruby’s address will only be disclosed to registered guests. 

Aimee Phan is the author of two books, We Should Never Meet: Stories and The Reeducation of Cherry Truong. She has a young adult duology, The Lost Queen, forthcoming from Penguin/Putnam. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Time, USA Today and CNN. She has received residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook, Djerassi and the Bellagio Center. She has received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund.

Alexandra Huynh is a 21-year-old Vietnamese American poet from Sacramento, CA. She is a 2020 Sacramento Youth Poet Laureate, a program of Sacramento Area Youth Speaks. In 2021, she became the 5th National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, where she served as a cultural ambassador of the national youth poetry community.

As a second-generation Vietnamese American, Huynh employs poetry as a tool of self-reclamation and social justice for marginalized communities. She embodies a radical pride in her Vietnamese heritage and seeks to write her story outside of the context of whiteness. Through poetry, she hopes to give young people a vocabulary to articulate their lived experiences and empower them to shape their future.

Her work has been featured by the likes of NPR, NBC, CBS This Morning, PBS and The Washington Post. In 2022, Alexandra was featured in the award-winning children’s book, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Inspiring Young Changemakers. Later that year, she joined the international literacy nonprofit Room to Read as a member of the Book Creator Collective. In 2023, they became the Inaugural Artist-in-Residence at the Harvard University Asia Center.

She currently studies American Studies and Asian American Studies at Stanford University, where she aims to combine her passions for creative writing and civic engagement.

Susan Lieu is a Vietnamese-American author, playwright, and performer who tells stories that refuse to be forgotten. A daughter of nail salon workers, she took her award-winning autobiographical solo show 140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother on a ten-city national tour, with sold-out premieres and accolades from the Los Angeles Times, NPR, and American Theatre. Eight months pregnant, she premiered her sequel, OVER 140 LBS, at ACT Theatre. She is a proud alumna of Harvard College, Yale School of Management, Coro, Hedgebrook, and Vashon Artist Residency. She is also the cofounder of Socola Chocolatier, an artisanal chocolate company based in San Francisco. Susan lives with her husband and son in Seattle, where they enjoy mushroom hunting, croissants, and big family gatherings. The Manicurist’s Daughter is her first book.

Thy Hope Luong is a Vietnamese-American poet, artist, and advocate from San José. She serves as Santa Clara County’s 2023-2024 Youth Poet Laureate, San José D4 Youth Commissioner, and is the executive director of Learn4Justice, a student-led organization teaching underserved youth social justice skills. Her writing and art have been recognized by the New York Times, YoungArts and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, among others. She loves superhero films and cries over her guitar sometimes.

Connect:

Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) - Website | Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) - Instagram