Excited to return to South Carolina and visit Charleston for the first time this coming Sunday. I'll be talking about TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER and the struggle to confront the otherness within oneself, in one's nation, in one's writing. In conversation with critic Bilal Qureshi.

I posted this comment on the Daily Cal article and these are the comments. I had to look up "shabos goy." "I'm proud of these students. They're keeping alive a great tradition of protest, conscience, and speaking truth to power that has been so important to many of us who went to Berkeley."

One of the great antiwar poems, by Wilfred Owen, British veteran of World War I, ending with The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. (Latin for “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”)

What better way to treat you or your bookish friend this holiday season than with a gift from one of the most prominent writers of our generation? Click the link below and get a personalized postcard from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen @vietthanhnguyen.bsky.social!

Last time I spoke with Ocean Vuong was in 2017 at the Los Angeles Public Library. Delighted to speak with him again for ÁCCENTED: DIALOGUES IN DIASPORA, the podcast of the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network.

Hell yes

I would have voted for @zohrankmamdani if I lived in NYC (and I’d be happy to take the place of anybody fleeing NYC) but I’m in California and voted for Prop. 50 today.

Back in Austin! At the great Texas Book Festival, in conversation with Gregory Cowles.

Excited to moderate this screening of two important docs, Cathy Linh Che's WE WERE THE SCENERY, about her parents' experiences being Vietnamese extras in Apocalypse Now--that movie should never be taught w/o Cathy's film--and THIRD ACT, about key director Robert Nakamura. tinyurl.com/4nekzws8

People nitpicking on a cultural custom of calling a related elder an “aunt” but not outraged over Trump killing random people because he wants to are telling on themselves. And what they are telling is that they are racist and authoritarian.

A really delightful honor for me to be associated with the storied @kenyonreview.bsky.social

I thought I wasn't qualified for ICE, but I am! "Trump’s new recruits are failing the ICE fitness test—a modest challenge that requires just 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run in 14 minutes."

Tomorrow! Los Angeles! What was the first Vietnamese American novel I read? Trần Văn Dĩnh's Blue Dragon, White Tiger, first published in 1983.

It’s a hell of a ceasefire when you kill 38 Palestinian civilians, including children, partly due to your IDF bulldozer running over an IDF explosive killing two Israeli soldiers whose deaths you blame on Hamas.

I'm excited to come back to West Virginia to give the McCreight Lecture, where I'll be talking about the power and danger of storytelling, especially in our United States today, where storytelling is inseparable from how we think of ourselves and our nation, who belongs and who doesn't.

I would vote for him if I could — because he is one veteran who actually sounds like he’s genuinely antifa

I finally get to host our podcast, ÁCCENTED: DIALOGUES IN DIASPORA, live, in San Francisco, this Saturday evening with our radio partner @KALW! Come see us live with authors Aimee Phan and Christina Vo. www.eventbrite.com/e/accented-l...

Israel is mad that not all the bodies of the dead Israeli hostages have been returned. Perhaps it’s because Israel totally destroyed Gaza, and thousands of Palestinians remain unaccounted for beneath the same rubble?

Another article that does not interview a single Palestinian. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/w...

I'm a huge fan of the musician Thao Nguyen, so it's amazing that I'll have the chance to share the stage with her at Litquake. She'll perform a new song written just for the occasion, inspired by my book TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER. How cool is that?

All you need to know

Very much looking forward to talking to some amazing people, including old friends, in this online book chat about TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER. Come hang out with me and Saree Makdisi of UCLA, Ricky Rodriguez of UC Riverside, and Natalia Molina of USC.

My copy of László Krasznahorkai’s The Melancholy of Resistance and a typical two pages. The whole book is formatted thusly. How many American writers would dare? I love the title too.

The MacArthur Fellowship is a life-changing award. I'm glad to see two of them go to the artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen and the novelist Tommy Orange.

WTF category. In this case, my university, USC, provides cadavers to the US Navy to train IDF medical personnel. The cadavers are unclaimed bodies: people for whom no one was willing or able to pay for burials. What an afterlife after a difficult life--to have your body used without your consent.

Solidarity, now and forever. “This is the most frightening moment of my life,” she added. "The only thing that has ever worked...is solidarity: binding together, finding bravery in numbers too big to ignore, and standing up for one another.” www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...

So being against racism and fascism and standing with one’s community for self-defense is now considered a crime? Shame on UNC. This is Dwayne Dixon. I know Dwayne and the students testifying to how great of a professor he is in the comments on Instagram are as shocked as I am.

White nationalist tattoos and fat commanders-in-chief with felony convictions are ok, however.

Trump wants the military to use American cities as "training grounds" and Hegseth thinks rules of engagement are too strict. If these two--plus Miller and Homan--could get away with death squads, they would so do it. 1/2

A friend sent this picture of the new French translation of A Man of Two Faces in Paris. Unfortunately, because of tariffs, my publisher can’t send me the book. Thanks, Trump!

There is now a Center for California Literature! Long overdue. Please come to the kickoff event with Aja Monet, Ryan O’Connell, Roxane Gay, and myself on Oct. 3 at the wonderfully named Giovanni’s Room in LA.

All my escalators worked for me today. How about yours?

Netanyahu had fewer attendees than an 8am panel at the MLA.

It was never about criminality or invasions or about the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants. Trump and the MAGA movement hate immigrants overall. THEY START WITH THE MOST VULNERABLE AND WILL GET TO EVERY IMMIGRANT OR REFUGEE EVENTUALLY. That will include birthright citizenship too.

If Trump says this, then hopefully many of the people who listened to him today will understand that this is a racist, cruel, and ultimately self-destructive policy for so many countries that actually benefit from the cultures, values, and labor that immigrants bring.

Great summary of the Voices for Gaza event this past Sunday--you can donate at the QR code you see here.

We have been shadowbanned on this event and yet we are nearly sold out…come help us sell out and show your love and support for Palestine and Gaza. www.ticketmaster.com/voices-for-g...

Thinking about our commandant-in-chief, who loves to mock but can’t bear being mocked

It worked. We’re not talking about the Epstein files.

War on Drugs. War on Terror. War on Antifa. Americans love fighting wars they can’t win.

The Democratic Party is a joke. thehill.com/homenews/hou...

None of this is a surprise. Remember that Trump supposedly was motivated to run for president after Obama roasted him.

Definitely Dear Leader territory. And Republicans are upset if you say the word “fascism.”

If white supremacists are willing to march en masse in honor of Charlie Kirk, saying things like “Say his name! Take back our world! Take back our land!”-- Then maybe they understood Charlie Kirk pretty well.

Sally Rooney, Deborah Levy, Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux and Pulitzer winner Viet Thanh Nguyen are among 20 authors urging French president Emmanuel Macron to resume a “lifeline” programme for evacuating Palestinian writers, scholars and artists from Gaza.

The Republican Party that hated racial quotas sure does seem to like racial quotas

Making a rare trip to Indiana to speak at Notre Dame this Friday. The university brings out people to do an intellectual warm-up act before a football game weekend. Notre Dame has a long-time rivalry with USC, and Notre Dame has won many more games than USC, which I will be sure to bring up.

Another compelling factor was Israeli troops’ “extensive and deliberate” targeting of Palestinian children, Mr. Sidoti said. Medical workers testified they had treated many children with direct gunshot wounds to the head and upper body.

VOICES FOR GAZA is this Sunday in NYC, a fundraiser for Palestinian children. Hear about why you should come and support this important event from the writers and artists who will be speaking: Seema Jilani, Mosab Abu Toha, Hala Alyan, Hannah Lillith Assadi, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Aasif Mandvi