WHAT:

Talented writers and poets in the emerging field of Vietnamese American literature gather for an evening of readings on March 2 --- Saturday --- from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event will bring the new voices of influential Vietnamese American writers and poets from both the East Coast and the West Coast to a wider audience, including a new generation of Vietnamese Americans who grew up in America.

WHEN AND WHERE:

Saturday, March 2, from 6:30-10 p.m. in the Cesar Chavez Student Center at San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave.

WHO:

Featured writers, poets and performers include Andrew Pham, whose first book, a travel memoir titled Catfish and Mandala won the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for nonfiction; Nguyen Qui Duc, whose book Where the Ashes Are was one of the pioneering works in Vietnamese American literature and who hosts the national radio show "Pacific Time;" and Kein Nguyen, whose memoir The Unwanted --- the story of his life in Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975 --- is being made into a Hollywood movie. Other writers include Mong-Lan, author of Song of the Cicadas; Monique T.D. Truong, author of The Book of Salt; TruongTran, author of Dust and Conscience; and journalist Andrew Lam. Maura Nguyen Donohue, Le Thi Diem Thuy, and Lan Tran will present short performances. Quang Bao, executive director of The Asian American Writers' Workshop in New York, will serve as emcee. Hai Dai Nguyen's visual poems will be screened during intermission. The event also features an awards ceremony to recognize several individuals for their contributions to the Vietnamese American community in the Bay Area.

DETAILS:

The program's organizers --- Isabelle Pelaud and Minh-hoa Ta, faculty members in the Asian American Studies Department at S.F. State ---say they hope the event will introduce the public to emerging voices in literature as well as raise support for S.F. State's Vietnamese American Studies Center, which promotes Vietnamese American culture and scholarship.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, assistant professor of Asian American Studies at S.F. State, at (415) 338-7592 or Ted DeAdwyler in the S.F. State Public Affairs Office at (415) 338-7110.