Ocean Vuong
Minneapolis Central Library - Pohlad Hall, 2nd Floor
One of the things I learned as a son, maybe as a writer too, is that love is about acceptance.
—Ocean Vuong
American Book Award Winner
Ocean Vuong is the author of critically acclaimed poetry collections Night Sky with Exit Wounds and Time Is a Mother. His debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, was a New York Times bestseller and was nominated for the National Book Award. Exploring race, class, and masculinity, the novel is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.
Following cycles of history, Vuong’s new novel, The Emperor of Gladness, shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. At its heart is a brave epic that asks what it means to exist on the fringes of society and reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul. Hallmarks of Vuong’s writing—formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to pair grit with grace through tenderness—are on full display as he explores how far we would go to possess one of life’s most fleeting mercies: a second chance. An instant New York Times bestseller and Oprah’s Book Club pick, The Emperor of Gladness is about chosen family, unexpected friendships, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.
A recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and the American Book Award, Vuong was born in Saigon, Vietnam and currently splits his time between Massachusetts and New York City, where he serves as a professor of modern poetry and poetics in the MFA program at NYU.
This event is FREE and open to the public, but registration is required. Use the links at the top of the page to register for either the in-person event or virtual option.
This event takes place at the Minneapolis Central Library in Pohlad Hall on the 2nd Floor. Pohlad Hall doors open at 6 p.m. for general admission seating. Registrants must check in for seating by 6:20 p.m. After this time, any open seats will be released to our standby queue.
Order the author's featured book from bookselling partner Magers and Quinn. The book will also be on sale in the event lobby, and a book signing will take place following the talk.
Using your Hennepin County Library card, download the author's past titles through the Libby App or search the catalog for pick up locations.
In-Person Event: Accessible and companion seating are available at all Talk of the Stacks events. Check with a staff member or volunteer upon arrival to request this seating. Assistive Listening Devices will also be available at the event check-in table. For all other requests, including ASL interpretation services, please email FriendsEvents@hclib.org at least two weeks prior to your event.
Virtual Option: Closed captioning is provided for all virtual Talk of the Stacks events. To use closed captioning during a virtual program, click the "CC" icon and select "Show Subtitles."
Be the first to know!