Watermark
Vietnamese Poetry and Prose
Published on 7. April 1998
Book
Hardback
227 pages
978-1-889876-05-4 (ISBN)
Description
Here, the most innovative contemporary Vietnamese American writers explore thematic and stylistic territory previously overlooked in other collections, which have traditionally focused on the all-too-expected theme of war. Watermark lifts all constraints, leaving the works to reset the boundaries for themselves. And they do -- using poetry, fiction, and experimental forms to venture further into the fringes of the Vietnamese American psyche. There they find a dead dog and hockey puck, a frozen (literally) grandmother, a hairpiece, Gertrude Stein, and a stick of spearmint gum. Here fiction and poetry reflect and refract on adolescence and sexuality, language, death, and distance. The result is a sly, haunting, wry look at life anywhere.
Reviews / Votes
"Watermark is simply some of the best writing from a new generation of Vietnamese writers in America. Eloquent, poignant, funny -- the writing goes beyond war -- taking us into the towns and fields of America. This is the Vietnamese literature of the future, 'a taste of the pure, sea salt sadness of the outcast' (to paraphrase Monique T.D. Truong) made inclusive by the editors' uncommon and judicious selections." Russell Leong, Editor, UCLA Amerasia Journal "Vietnamese-American literature is young. You can hardly tell it, though, from this collection of stories published by the Asian American Writers' Workshop in New York. Here is an array of diverse talents that surprise and delight. Keen observation or exuberant fancy. Gentle humor, urbane charm, or devilish wit. Real life or that magic of dreams. Read Watermark and treat yourself to some fiction that transcends mere documents of the Vietnamese-American experience." Huynh Sanh Thong, Publisher and General Editor, The Vietnam ReviewMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Philadelphia PA
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 230 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-889876-05-4 (9781889876054)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Barbara Tran was the recipient of a Cornell Woolrich scholarship at Columbia University, where she earned her M.F.A. A graduate of Yale College and Columbia University School of Law, Monique T. D. Truong is a writer and attorney in New York City. Luu Truong Khoi graduated from Harvard College and the Boston University Creative Writing Program. CONTRIBUTORS: Quang Bao, Lan Cao, Bao-Long Chu, Linh Dinh, Maura Donahue, Lan Duong, Lai Thanhha, Andrew Lam, Christian Langworthy, le thi diem thuy, Mong Lan, Bich Min Nguyen, Nguyen Qui Duc, Minh Duc Nguyen, Nguyen Ba Trac, Dao Strom, Barbara Tran, Diep Khac Tran, Truong Tran, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Monique T.D. Truong, Trac Vu, Thuong Vuong-Riddick
Content
CONTENTS from Live by water, die for water, Huynh Sanh Thong The Brochure, Christian Langworthy Up Over Boulder Hill, Dao Strom Letter to My Bed, Linh Dinh History, Thuong Vuong-Riddick Seeds, Monique T.D. Truong Slow Tribe, Linh Dinh Lost and Found, Truong Tran Sounding Sadec, Mong Lan Nobody Knows, Quang Bao from Rosary, Barbara Tran A Pressing Romance, Diep Khac Tran Fritz Glatman, Linh Dinh Pre-Dahmer, Trac Vu Tale of Apricot, Minh Duc Nguyen Sestina, Christian Langworthy The White Horse, Nguyen Ba Trac Untitled, le thi diem thuy Big girl, Little girl, le thi diem thuy Chickens, Dao Strom from When You're Old Enough, Maura Donohue Show and Tell, Andrew Lam The Dead, Linh Dinh Know by Heart, Triinh T. Minh-ha from Monkey Bridge, Lan Cao M.I.A., Bao-Long Chu Grandma's Tales, Andrew Lam Sister Play, Lan Duong Night Shelter, Nguyen Qui Duc The Long Bien Bridge, Mong Lan Golden Gate, Mong Lan Prints, Christian Langworthy Western Music, Linh Dinh Auspicious, Bich Minh Nguyen Placing the Accents, Truong Tran Mango, Christian Langworthy Recipe 3, Truong Tran Recipe 5, Truong Tran The Bitterness of Bodies We Bear, Bao-Long Chu The Dill Peddler, Thanhha Lai Copyrights Acknowledgments About the Contributors About the Editors A Note to the Reader List of Donors