As part of ACL Spokane’s Asian American Heritage Month celebration, we’re thrilled to welcome Viet Thanh Nguyen—New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize recipient in fiction—as the keynote speaker for the evening.

Reflecting this year’s theme, Echoes: Letters for New Tomorrows, Nguyen’s powerful storytelling explores concepts of identity, memory, and belonging, offering profound insights into the Vietnamese diaspora and the broader Asian American experience.

His newly released memoir, To Save and Destroy: Writing as an Other, is described as “a moving and unflinchingly personal meditation on the literary forms of otherness and a bold call for expansive political solidarity” (from the publisher). Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Sympathizer, which has recently been adapted into a critically acclaimed television series on Max, has earned him widespread recognition. His accolades include the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and the Asian/Pacific American Literature Award.

Free and open to all!  RSVP and get a chance to win a book in the raffle. Donations are encouraged for those who have the financial capacity to contribute so we can continue making our programs accessible.

This special evening is presented  to you by ACL Spokane, Spokane Public Library, Asians for Collective Action, and Eastern Washington University. Other contributing community sponsors include Better Health Together, KH Consulting, Gonzaga University, GESA Credit Union, KSPS PBS, KYRS, Auntie’s Bookstore, and Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane. This is a hybrid public event. Reserve your free in-person and virtual tickets here. Doors open at 6:00 PM, program starts at 6:30 PM.  

Check out the rest of Asian American Heritage Month events and updates at aclspokane.org/heritagemonth. 

***

About Viet Thanh Nguyen

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer is a New York Times best seller and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Other honors include the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction from the American Library Association, the First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction, a Gold Medal in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and the Asian/Pacific American Literature Award from the Asian/Pacific American Librarian Association. His other books are Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction) and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. He is a University Professor, the Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and a Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. He has been interviewed by Tavis Smiley, Charlie Rose, Seth Meyers, and Terry Gross, among many others. He is also the author of the bestselling short story collection, The Refugees. Most recently he has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, and le Prix du meilleur livre étranger (Best Foreign Book in France), for The Sympathizer. He is the editor of The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives and the Library of America volume for Maxine Hong Kingston. He co-authored Chicken of the Sea, a children’s book, with his then six-year-old son, Ellison, and his most recent novel is The Committed, the sequel to The Sympathizer. HBO turned The Sympathizer into a TV series in 2024, directed by Park Chan-wook. Nguyen’s last book was Simone, a children’s book illustrated by Minnie Phan, while his next book is To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other, forthcoming from Harvard University Press in 2025.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and activist Viet Thanh Nguyen will be in conversation with EWU Sociology professor and community organizer Dr. Pui-Yan Lam to talk about reimagining movement building towards collective action. 

This invitational talk gathers our community partners and sponsors in this year’s Asian American Heritage Month celebration. RSVP is required, seats are limited. Presented by ACL Spokane, Spokane Public Library, Asians for Collective Action, and Eastern Washington University. Other contributing community sponsors include Better Health Together, KH Consulting, Gonzaga University, GESA Credit Union, KSPS PBS, KYRS, Auntie’s Bookstore, and Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane 

Check out the rest of Asian American Heritage Month events and updates at aclspokane.org/heritagemonth. 

***

About Viet Thanh Nguyen

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer is a New York Times best seller and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Other honors include the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction from the American Library Association, the First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction, a Gold Medal in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and the Asian/Pacific American Literature Award from the Asian/Pacific American Librarian Association. His other books are Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction) and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. He is a University Professor, the Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and a Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. He has been interviewed by Tavis Smiley, Charlie Rose, Seth Meyers, and Terry Gross, among many others. He is also the author of the bestselling short story collection, The Refugees. Most recently he has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, and le Prix du meilleur livre étranger (Best Foreign Book in France), for The Sympathizer. He is the editor of The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives and the Library of America volume for Maxine Hong Kingston. He co-authored Chicken of the Sea, a children’s book, with his then six-year-old son, Ellison, and his most recent novel is The Committed, the sequel to The Sympathizer. HBO turned The Sympathizer into a TV series in 2024, directed by Park Chan-wook. Nguyen’s last book was Simone, a children’s book illustrated by Minnie Phan, while his next book is To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other, forthcoming from Harvard University Press in 2025.

About Dr. Pui-Yan Lam

Dr. Pui-Yan Lam is an immigrant from Hong Kong and has been a resident of Spokane for more than 20 years. She works as a professor of sociology at Eastern Washington University. She has served in community organizations such as Spokane Community Against Racism, Asians for Collective Liberation, Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, Greater Spokane Progress, and Refugee and Immigrant Connections of Spokane. She is also an executive board member of the Spokane Regional Labor Council.