Ocean Vuong was not quite 30 years old when his debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, became a major literary sensation. It’s a coming of age story about a queer Vietnamese refugee, set against a backdrop of violence, poverty, and addiction. Much of it parallels Vuong’s own upbringing. Vuong is also the author of the poetry collections Night Sky with Exit Wounds and a new collection, Time is a Mother. On June 9th, 2023, Vuong came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San francisco to talk to writer/director Mike Mills, whose films include Beginners, 20th Century Women, and C’mon C’mon.