Ocean Vuong (born Vương Quốc Vinh, Vietnamese: [vɨəŋ˧ kuək˧˥ viɲ˧]; born 14 October 1988) is a Vietnamese American poet, essayist, and novelist. He is the recipient of the 2014 Ruth Lilly/Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation,[2] 2016 Whiting Award,[3] and the 2017 T. S. Eliot Prize.[4] His debut novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, was published in 2019. He received a MacArthur Grant that same year.[5]
Ocean Vuong | |
---|---|
Born | Vương Quốc Vinh[1] October 14, 1988 Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam |
Occupation | Poet, writer, professor |
Education | Brooklyn College (BA) New York University (MFA) |
Genre | Poetry, essays, novel |
Notable works |
|
Notable awards | |
Website | |
Ocean Vuong |
Early life
editOcean Vuong was born in Hồ Chí Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), Vietnam[6] to a multiracial mother. Two generations before Vuong was born, his grandmother was raised in the countryside of Vietnam. During this time, his grandfather, a farm boy from Michigan, was serving in the United States Navy. It was during the Vietnam War period that he fell in love with Vuong's grandmother, whom Vuong described as "an illiterate girl from the rice paddies."[7]
His grandparents married and had three daughters, one of whom was Vuong's mother.[7] His grandfather had gone back to visit home in the U.S. but was unable to return when Saigon fell to communist forces. Fearing for their safety, his grandmother made the difficult decision to place his mother and her sisters in separate orphanages. With the rising dangers associated with being seen as a collaborator, she believed splitting them up would give them the best chance for survival. “It was a humanitarian crisis, and there was more chance of them surviving like that,” he explains. His grandmother also worried they might be taken out of Vietnam.[7]
As daughters of a US serviceman, they would have qualified for Operation Babylift—a program that evacuated children to the United States for adoption. If kept together, they might have also been viewed as a family unit, making them a target for dissidents seeking to leave the country. By separating them, she hoped to protect them from these risks and increase their chances of survival.[7]
By the time the family was reunited, his mother had already reached adulthood. At 18, she had given birth to Ocean and was working in a Saigon salon, washing men’s hair to make ends meet.[7] However, her mixed-race heritage caught the attention of a policeman, who recognized that, under Vietnamese law, she was working illegally due to her background. This discovery put the family at significant risk, forcing them to flee Vietnam for safety. The family was evacuated to a refugee camp in the Philippines, where they waited as the Salvation Army processed their resettlement claim. Two-year-old Vuong and his family eventually gained asylum and migrated to the United States.[7] They settled in Hartford, Connecticut, along with seven relatives sharing a one-bedroom apartment.[8] His father abandoned the family one day and never returned.
Vuong was the first in his family to achieve proficiency in reading and writing, learning to read at the age of eleven.[8] He suspected dyslexia ran in his family,[7] At 15 years old, Vuong worked on a tobacco farm illegally and would later describe his experiences on the farm in On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.[9] He was reunited with his paternal grandfather later in life.[10][11][7]
Education
editVuong attended Glastonbury High School in Glastonbury, Connecticut, a school known for academic excellence. "I didn't know how to make use of it," Vuong has stated, noting that his grade point average at one point was 1.7.[12]
While in high school, he told fellow Glastonbury graduate Kat Chow he "understood he had to leave Connecticut." After spending some time studying at Manchester Community College, Vuong transferred to Pace University in New York to study marketing. His time at Pace lasted only a few weeks before he realized it "wasn't for him."[12]
He then enrolled at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, where he studied 19th-century English literature under poet and novelist Ben Lerner, and earned his B.A. in English.[13][14] While at Brooklyn College, Vuong received an Academy of American Poets College Prize. Vuong went on to earn an M.F.A. in poetry from New York University.[15]
Career
editVuong's poems and essays have been published in various journals, including Poetry,[16] The Nation,[17] TriQuarterly,[18] Guernica,[19] The Rumpus,[20] Boston Review,[21] Narrative Magazine, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times.[22]
His first chapbook, Burnings (Sibling Rivalry Press), was a 2011 "Over The Rainbow" selection for notable books with LGBT content by the American Library Association.[23] His second chapbook, No (YesYes Books), was released in 2013.[24] His debut full-length collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, was released by Copper Canyon Press in 2016.[25] His first novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, was published by Penguin Press on June 4, 2019. While working on the novel, the biggest issue Vuong had was with grammatical tense, since there are no past participles in Vietnamese. Vuong also regarded the book as a "phantom novel" dedicated to the "phantom readership of the mother, of [his] family," who are illiterate and thus cannot read his book.[26] Vuong's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer three months before the publication of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.[27] After his mother died in 2019, Vuong began writing his second collection of poetry, Time Is a Mother, which has been described as a "search for life after the death of his mother."[28]
In August 2020, Vuong was revealed as the seventh writer to contribute to the Future Library project. The project, which compiles original works by writers each year from 2014 to 2114, will remain unread until the collected 100 works are eventually published in 2114. Discussing his contribution to the project, Vuong opined that, "So much of publishing is about seeing your name in the world, but this is the opposite, putting the future ghost of you forward. You and I will have to die in order for us to get these texts. That is a heady thing to write towards, so I will sit with it a while."[29]
Vuong has stated his view of fiction as a moral vehicle. Discussing On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, he said: "Fiction is strongest when it launches a moral question. When it goes out and seeks to answer. The questions that we couldn't ask in life because the costs would be too much. Fiction and narrative art give us a vicarious opportunity to see these questions play out, at no true cost to our own."[30]
He served as the 2019-2020 Artist-In-Resident at NYU's Asian/Pacific/American Institute, also working with the school's Center for Refugee Poetics and the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House.[31][32] In 2022, he became a tenured Professor of Creative Writing at NYU,[33] and has also taught in the MFA Program for Poets and Writers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.[34][8] In 2022, Vuong was named as one of "32 Essential Asian American Writers" by Buzzfeed Books.[31]
Vuong has announced a second novel titled The Emperor of Gladness, expecting a release in June 2025.[35][36]
Personal life
editVuong has described himself as being raised by women. During a conversation with a customer, his mother, a manicurist, expressed a desire to go to the beach, and pronounced the word "beach" as "bitch". The customer suggested she use the word "ocean" instead of "beach". After learning the definition of the word "ocean" — the most massive classified body of water, such as the Pacific Ocean, which connects the United States and Vietnam — she renamed her son Ocean.[10]
Three months before the novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous was published, Vuong's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she died in November 2019.[37] Vuong wrote Time Is a Mother while in mourning. According to him, this collection of poems is the search for life after this heartbreaking event.[38][39]
In November 2021, an excerpt from On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous was featured in that year's New South Wales Higher School Certificate exams. The paper, the first of two English exams taken by year twelve students in the Australian state, required examinees to read an excerpt from the novel and answer a short question responding to it. On the exam's conclusion, Australian school students bombarded Vuong with confused inquiries via Instagram, to which the author responded in humorous fashion.[40]
Vuong is gay,[9] and is a practicing Zen Buddhist.[41] He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with his partner, Peter Bienkowski, and his half-brother whom he took in after their mother died.[8][42][43] During the Israel–Hamas war, he is a supporter of the boycott of Israeli cultural institutions, including publishers and literary festivals.[44][45]
Works
editBooks
editType | Title | Year | Publisher | ISBN | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Novels | On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous | 2019 | Penguin Press | Paperback: ISBN 978-0-525-56204-7 Hardcover: ISBN 978-0-525-56202-3 |
[46] |
The Emperor of Gladness | 2025 | Hardcover: ISBN 978-0-593-83187-8 | [47] | ||
Poetry | Night Sky with Exit Wounds | 2016 | Copper Canyon Press | Paperback: ISBN 978-1-55659-495-3 Hardcover: ISBN 978-1-55659-585-1 |
[48] |
Time Is a Mother | 2022 | Penguin Press | Paperback: ISBN 978-0-593-30025-1 Hardcover: ISBN 978-0-593-30023-7 |
[49] | |
Chapbooks | Burnings | 2010 | Sibling Rivalry Press | Paperback: ISBN 978-0-578-07059-9 | [50] |
No | 2013 | YesYes Books | Paperback: ISBN 978-1-936919-22-2 | [51] |
Verse
editTitle | Year | Publisher | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
12 Gauge | 2013 | The Paris-American | [52] |
DetoNation | 2014 | Poetry | [53] |
Aubade with Burning City | [54] | ||
Kissing in Vietnamese | 2014 | Split This Rock[a] | [55] |
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous | 2014 | Poetry | [56] |
Trojan | 2015 | Narrative Magazine | [57] |
Waterline | [58] | ||
No One Knows the Way to Heaven | [59] | ||
Someday I'll love Ocean Vuong | 2015 | The New Yorker | [60] |
Two Boys Bathing During a Ceasefire | 2015 | The New Republic | [61] |
Tell Me Something Good | 2015 | Academy of American Poets | [62] |
Trevor | 2016 | BuzzFeed News | [63] |
Toy Boat | 2016 | Poetry | [64] |
A Little Closer to the Edge | [65] | ||
Scavengers | 2016 | The New Yorker | [66] |
Ode to Masturbation | 2016 | Split This Rock | [67] |
Essay on Craft | 2017 | Poetry | [68] |
You Guys | 2017 | Granta | [69] |
Dear Rose | 2017 | Harper's Magazine | [70] |
Almost Human | 2019 | The New Yorker | [71] |
Not Even This | 2020 | Poetry | [72] |
Reasons for Staying | 2021 | Harper's Magazine | [73] |
Beautiful Short Loser | 2022 | Granta | [74] |
Prose & essays
editTitle | Year | Publisher | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
The Weight of Our Living: On Hope, Fire Escapes, and Visible Desperation | 2014 | The Rumpus | [75] |
Surrendering | 2016 | The New Yorker | [76] |
A Letter to My Mother That She Will Never Read | 2017 | [77] | |
How I Did It: The Seventh Circle of Earth | 2017 | Poetry School | [78] |
How Can We Make the MFA Workshop More Hospitable to Writers of Color? | 2018 | Literary Hub | [79] |
Reimagining Masculinity | 2019 | The Paris Review | [80] |
The 10 Books I Needed to Write My Novel | 2019 | Literary Hub | [81] |
Television
editYear | Programme | Channel | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | PBS NewsHour | PBS | Himself | Vietnamese American Poet Contemplates His Personal Ties to the War | [82] |
2019 | Late Night with Seth Meyers | NBC | Season 6, Episode 111 | [83] | |
Vice News Tonight | HBO | Ocean Vuong 'Breaks Apart' The Immigrant Experience In His Debut Novel | [84] | ||
Amanpour & Company | PBS | Ocean Vuong on Race, Sexuality and His New Novel | [85] |
Awards and honours
editAs of 2024, Vuong has won, received a nomination, or was considered for literature awards as well as career awards for fellowship and grant, residences, and listicles.
See also
editExplanatory notes
edit- ^ Reprinted from Split This Rock's The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database.
References
edit- ^ Kameelah Janan Rasheed (February 2013). "A Vessel for Peace: An Interview with Writer Ocean Vuong". Well&Often. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ B. Cho, Isabella (April 30, 2021). "Ocean Vuong Talks New Work, Diasporic Writing, and the Ethics of Narrative Expression". The Harvard Crimson. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
"Award-Winning Poet to Read". Hamilton College. November 4, 2016. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023. - ^ Williams, John (March 23, 2016). "Whiting Foundation Announces Winners of 2016 Awards for Writing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 21, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Harriet Staff (January 15, 2018). "Ocean Vuong Wins T.S. Eliot Prize". Poetry Foundation. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Flood, Alison (September 25, 2019). "$625,000 'genius grants' go to Ocean Vuong and six other writers". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Nguyen, Kevin (May 25, 2019). "Eavesdropping on Ocean Vuong's New Book". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Armitstead, Claire (October 3, 2017). "War baby: the amazing story of Ocean Vuong, former refugee and prize-winning poet". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Hua Hsu (April 10, 2022). "Ocean Vuong Is Still Learning". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ a b Ocean Vuong (August 1, 2011). "Ocean Vuong: The TNB Self-Interview". The Nervous Breakdown. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ a b Wenger, Daniel (April 7, 2016). "How a Poet Named Ocean Means to Fix the English Language". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Kakutani, Michiko (May 9, 2016). "Review: 'Night Sky With Exit Wounds,' Verses From Ocean Vuong". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ a b Chow, Kat (June 4, 2019). "Going Home With Ocean Vuong". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.(subscription required)
- ^ "Ocean Sounds: A Brooklyn College Alumnus Reflects on His Life". Brooklyn College. June 5, 2012. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "Mentoring Demands Respect, Says Ben Lerner About His Work with Ocean Vuong". Brooklyn College. June 14, 2013. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Poets, Academy of American. "Ocean Vuong". Poets.org. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
- ^ "Ocean Vuong". Poetry Foundation. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "Eurydice". The Nation. January 28, 2014. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "Ocean Vuong". TriQuarterly. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (June 14, 2013). "I Remember Anyway". Guernica. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "Ocean Vuong". The Rumpus. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "Poet's Sampler: Ocean Vuong". Boston Review. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "Ocean Vuong". New York University. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ blogando (January 22, 2012). "2012 Over the Rainbow List–74 LGBT Books for Adult Readers!". American Library Association. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "No by Ocean Vuong". YesYes Books. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "Night Sky with Exit Wounds". Copper Canyon Press. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Spiegel, Amy Rose. "On being generous in your work". The Creative Independent. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
- ^ Chung, Nicole (March 30, 2022). "Grieving His Mother's Death, Ocean Vuong Learned to Write for Himself". Time. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Mosley, Tonya (April 5, 2022). "Poet Ocean Vuong sifts through the aftershock of grief in 'Time Is a Mother'". NPR. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Cain, Sian (August 19, 2020). "'You'll have to die to get these texts': Ocean Vuong's next manuscript to be unveiled in 2114". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Talk Easy (May 23, 2023). "Ocean Vuong on the Moral Questions of Fiction". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ a b "Award-Winning Poet Ocean Vuong to Join NYU's Creative Writing Program Faculty". New York University. June 15, 2022. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "Ocean Vuong, Artist-in-Residence". Asian/Pacific/American Institute – New York University. August 29, 2019. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "Award-Winning Poet Ocean Vuong to Join NYU's Creative Writing Program Faculty". New York University. June 15, 2022. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ "Two Umass Amherst Authors Win Top Honors in 20th Annual Mass Book Awards". University of Massachusetts Amherst. September 15, 2020. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Folta, James (April 16, 2024). "A new Ocean Vuong novel is coming next summer". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on November 22, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
- ^ Lacey, Catherine; Lemons, Quil; Moreno, Moses (April 23, 2024). "Tired of Playing the Self-Loathing Poet, Ocean Vuong Is Stepping Into His Next Role". Cultured. ISSN 1741-251X. Archived from the original on November 22, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
- ^ Chung, Nicole (March 30, 2022). "Grieving His Mother's Death, Ocean Vuong Learned to Write for Himself". Time. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Mosley, Tonya (April 5, 2022). "Poet Ocean Vuong sifts through the aftershock of grief in 'Time Is a Mother'". NPR. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ CBC Radio (April 8, 2022). "Ocean Vuong embraces life after loss in his new book of poems, Time Is a Mother". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Israel, Janine (November 10, 2021). "'What the hell is an HSC exam?' Poet Ocean Vuong pokes fun at perplexed Australian students". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Tolchinsky, Raisa (August 16, 2017). "What Scares Writer and Zen Buddhist Ocean Vuong". Tricycle. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ The Guardian (January 17, 2018). "TS Eliot prize goes to Vietnam-born US poet for debut collection Night Sky With Exit Wounds". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on December 21, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
- ^ González, Rigoberto. "Be Bold: A Profile of Ocean Vuong". Poets & Writers. No. July/August 2019. ISSN 0891-6136. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- ^ "Over 1,000 authors join Israel boycott for 'dispossession' of Palestinians". Yedioth Ahronoth. October 29, 2024. Archived from the original on November 4, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ Sheehan, Dan (October 28, 2024). "Hundreds of Authors Pledge to Boycott Israeli Cultural Institutions". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on November 4, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ Garner, Dwight (May 27, 2019). "'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' Captures a Young Immigrant's Troubles and Ecstasies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Wood, Heloise (April 16, 2024). "Jonathan Cape to publish Ocean Vuong's 'breathtaking' new novel". The Bookseller. ISSN 0006-7539. Archived from the original on November 22, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
- ^ "Night Sky with Exit Wounds". Harvard Kennedy School. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ansari, Aleenah (June 1, 2023). "Ocean Vuong holds space for humor amid grief in latest poetry collection, 'Time Is a Mother'". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ "Burnings | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Nguyen, Eric (December 9, 2013). "A Review of 'No' by Ocean Vuong". DVAN. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
"No by Ocean Vuong". YesYes Books. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023. - ^ "12 Gauge by Ocean Vuong". The Paris-American. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (February 2014). "DetoNation". Poetry. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (February 2014). "Aubade with Burning City". Poetry. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ "Kissing in Vietnamese by Ocean Vuong - Poems". Academy of American Poets. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
Ocean Vuong (June 30, 2014). "Kissing in Vietnamese | Poetry Database | Split This Rock". Split This Rock. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023. - ^ Ocean Vuong (December 2014). "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous". Poetry. pp. 244–247. Archived from the original on December 28, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
"December 2014" (PDF). Poetry Foundation. December 1, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 28, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023. - ^ "Trojan by Ocean Vuong". Narrative Magazine. March 2, 2015. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.(subscription required)
- ^ "Waterline by Ocean Vuong". Narrative Magazine. October 17, 2014. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.(subscription required)
- ^ "No One Knows the Way to Heaven by Ocean Vuong". Narrative Magazine. February 9, 2015. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.(subscription required)
- ^ Ocean Vuong (April 27, 2015). "Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong". The New Yorker. Vol. 91, no. 11. pp. 50–51. Archived from the original on December 28, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (May 19, 2015). "Ocean Vuong poem Two Boys Bathing During a Ceasefire". The New Republic. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ "Tell Me Something Good by Ocean Vuong - Poems". Academy of American Poets. September 2, 2015. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (March 24, 2016). "Poem: "Trevor" By Ocean Vuong". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (April 2016). "Toy Boat". Poetry. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (April 2016). "A Little Closer to the Edge". Poetry. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (October 31, 2016). "Scavengers". The New Yorker. Vol. 92, no. 36. p. 51. Archived from the original on December 28, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (December 22, 2016). "Ode to Masturbation | Poetry Database | Split This Rock". Split This Rock. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (August 2017). "Essay on Craft". Poetry. Archived from the original on December 28, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (August 3, 2017). "You Guys | Ocean Vuong | Granta". Granta. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (December 2017). "Dear Rose by Ocean Vuong". Harper's Magazine. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (July 29, 2019). "Almost Human". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (April 2020). "Not Even This". Poetry. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (July 2021). "Reasons for Staying by Ocean Vuong". Harper's Magazine. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (March 15, 2022). "Beautiful Short Loser | Ocean Vuong | Granta". Granta. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (August 28, 2014). "The Weight of Our Living: On Hope, Fire Escapes, and Visible Desperation". The Rumpus. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (May 30, 2016). "Surrendering". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (May 13, 2017). "A Letter to My Mother That She Will Never Read". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (September 2017). "How I Did It: Forward First Collection Special – Ocean Vuong on 'Seventh Circle of Earth'". Poetry School. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Literary Hub (April 5, 2018). "How Can We Make the MFA Workshop More Hospitable to Writers of Color?". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (June 10, 2019). "Reimagining Masculinity". The Paris Review. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Ocean Vuong (October 1, 2019). "Ocean Vuong: The 10 Books I Needed to Write My Novel". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ "Vietnamese American poet contemplates his personal ties to the war". PBS. May 3, 2016. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ "Late Night With Seth Meyers – Season 6, Episode 111". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
"Late Night With Seth Meyers Season 6 Episodes". TV Guide. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023. - ^ "Ocean Vuong 'Breaks Apart' The Immigrant Experience In His Debut Novel". Vice Media. July 2, 2019. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
"Ocean Vuong 'Breaks Apart' The Immigrant Experience In His Debut Novel (HBO)". Vice News. June 20, 2019. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023 – via YouTube. - ^ "Ocean Vuong on Race, Sexuality and His New Novel | Video". Amanpour & Company. PBS. October 31, 2019. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.