427 - Can We Still Create Without Trauma?

In this roundtable discussion Kenneth Nguyen, we bring together four artists in Vietnamese literature, art, and academia to reflect on creativity, memory, and healing, 50 years after the end of the Vietnam War.

Christina Vo is the author of My Vietnam, Your Vietnam, a memoir that weaves together the stories of two generations navigating identity and belonging. With a background in international development and storytelling, Christina explores how personal and national histories intersect.

Dr. Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde is a professor of Asian American Studies in the Bay Area, known for her groundbreaking work on Vietnamese diasporic identity and cultural politics. As both an academic and community advocate, she brings a sharp, critical lens to questions of trauma and resilience.

Truong Tran is a poet, visual artist, and author who confronts themes of exclusion, erasure, and the struggle for voice. His work bridges the personal and political, challenging the limits of language and representation.

Andrew Lam, award-winning author of Perfume Dreams and the newly released Stories from the Edge of the Sea, is a journalist and former NPR commentator whose essays and fiction illuminate the complexities of exile, memory, and transformation.

Together, they sit down with Kenneth in conversation about what it means to create art after displacement and inherited trauma. Can the creative spirit evolve beyond pain or is trauma an inescapable thread in the Vietnamese diasporic narrative?

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Many of you still have the chance to record and preserve the legacies of your own families. I’ve sat with families now for interview sessions to record the rich histories of parents and explore the lives of the generations that preceded them. Don’t let your family stories go untold! Take a moment to reach out and together we will bring out your family’s story on a recorded journey. - Kenneth Nguyen

Visit vietnamstorybank.com today for more information.

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