One of America’s foremost writers and public intellectuals, Viet Thanh Nguyen sees writing as an act of power and justice.

His remarkable debut novel The Sympathizer – a globally minded reimagining of the Vietnam War – won The Pulitzer Prize, sold over a million copies and received a major HBO adaptation. Its equally scorching sequel, The Committed, received similar critical acclaim, with The New Yorker describing Nguyen as “a voice that shakes the walls of the old literary comfort zone”.

Making his AWF debut, he joins Rosabel Tan to discuss his acclaimed fiction and his recently published memoir, A Man of Two Faces. Both deeply personal and intensely political, it recounts his experience of arriving in America in 1975 as a refugee, explores the ripple effect of trauma through generations and interrogates what it means to be a refugee, an immigrant and an American in a world that doesn’t see you as you see yourself.

A conversation not to be missed.

Supported by Platinum Bold Patrons Joséphine & Ross Green.