Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose (Asian American Writers Worksh) [Paperback]

Barbara Tran (Editor), Monique T.D. Truong (Editor), Khoi Truong Luu (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Asian American Writers Worksh | Publication Date: March 19, 1998

This landmark collection of poetry and prose heralds a new era for Vietnamese American literature. Here, for the first time, 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. With works by such writers as Linh Dinh, Andrew Lam and Christian Langworthy.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Vietnamese American writers Tran, who has published in such journals as Amerasia and Antioch Review, and her coeditors present a volume rich in the voices of people made to straddle two cultures. Over half the pieces have been previously published in journals or collections of Asian American literature, but the emphasis in Watermark is very contemporary and totally Vietnamese. While other anthologies of Vietnamese literature focus on the experience of the Vietnam War, this book focuses mostly on first- or second-generation Vietnamese Americans as they maneuver through American culture. Not to be missed are Andrew Lam's two stories "Grandma's Tales," an unexpectedly droll flight of fancy about the death of a Vietnamese grandmother, and "Show and Tell," the moving portrayal of the introduction of a Vietnamese refugee boy into an eighth-grade American class. The selections fill a gap in Asian American literature as they present a vision both gripping and arresting.AD.E. Perushek, Northwestern Univ. Lib., Evanston, IL
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Barbara Tran was the recipient of a Cornell Woolrich scholarship at Columbia University, where she earned her M.F.A.

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 Donohue, Lan Duong, Lai Thanhha, Andrew Lam, Christian Langworthy, lê thi diem thúy, Mong Lan, Bich Minh 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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 227 pages
• Publisher: Asian American Writers' Workshop (March 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889876046
• ISBN-13: 978-1889876047
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great lyrical stories, July 23, 2009

By 

Phil Lee (Minneapolis, Minn, Silicon Tundra, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose (Asian American Writers Worksh) (Paperback)

Actual title is "Watermark: vietnamese american poetry & prose," ISBN 1-889876-05-4 hc. PS591 .A76 W38 at Univ MN, Wilson Lib


One of the best stories is "Tale of Apricot," by Minh Duc Nguyen, p59-73. In the back of book p220, About the Contributors, it says that he is a grad film student at USC and he is working on several screenplays.

Originally pub in on of the last volumes of Viet Forum periodical v16, Yale (1997) where Dan Duffy (Ed), "Not a War: Amer Vietnamese Fiction, Poetry, and Essays," p131-44.

2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stuff, July 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose (Asian American Writers Worksh) (Paperback)

Buy it for your friends. A lot of new writers.