ECU to host a Southern Literary Celebration
East Carolina University soon will celebrate an evening of Southern literature hosted by The North Carolina Literary Review and the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Whichard Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities.
Monique Truong, bestselling and award-winning author, will visit ECU on Oct. 1, in the Main Campus Student Center’s Black Box Theater.
Beginning at 6 p.m., Truong will participate in a writer’s reception featuring an intimate interview and discussion led by Dr. Kirstin Squint, Whichard Professor, and Dr. Margaret Bauer, NCLR editor and ECU professor of English.
Following the reception, at 7 p.m. Truong will read from her newest novel, “The Sweetest Fruits,” and a book signing will conclude the evening’s events.
Both events are free and open to the public. Space is limited for the reception, so an RSVP is required. RSVP to THCAS@ecu.edu or 252-737-1755. Parking is available for $1/hour in the new parking deck located behind the Main Campus Student Center at 501 East 10th St. The deck is accessible by turning down Student Center Way.
Monique Truong (Photo by Haruka Sakaguchi)
Truong was born in Saigon, South Vietnam. Traveling with her family, Truong came to the United States as a refugee in 1975, at the age of 7. They established a home in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.
A 2015 NCLR interview with Truong, “Both Souths That I’ve Known,” explained that, “During the four years her family lived in Boiling Springs, Truong learned to speak English and to endure racism. As part of the only Vietnamese American family in her community, Truong felt the sting of epithets such as ‘Jap’ and ‘Chink,’ and she realized that for some people, she was defined only by her appearance.”
“I was born in a country where everyone looked like me. Moving to Boiling Springs meant that I was no longer the same person to the rest of the world,” said Truong.
Truong said that her experience as an Asian American in North Carolina formed her identity as an author.
“I had a new language, but I also was so ostracized and had become so emotionally awkward and shy that I had few reasons to use it,” said Truong. “Language and silence, those two things I think, in one form or another, are at the core of my writing.”
Kirstin Squint
(Contributed photo)
Truong’s family eventually moved and settled in Houston, Texas, where Truong graduated from high school. She received a degree in literature from Yale and a law degree from Columbia Law School. Before becoming a full-time writer, she practiced commercial litigation and intellectual property law for private firms.
“Truong’s talent as a writer is irrefutable,” said Squint. “Her 2003 novel, ‘The Book of Salt,’ was a national bestseller, winner of numerous awards, and described by Kirkus Reviews as a ‘tour de force.’ The author’s law background clearly undergirds her 2010 novel, ‘Bitter in the Mouth,’ winner of the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and an Honor Book from the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association.”
For additional information about the Southern Literary Celebration, contact Squint at squintk19@ecu.edu or 252-328-6723. More information about Truong is available at http://monique-truong.com/.
-by Lacey L. Gray, University Communications