AustLit logo

AustLit

y separately published work icon The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam anthology   poetry   short story  
Issue Details: First known date: 2010... 2010 The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The Perfume River offers the reader perspectives on Vietnam from both inside and outside the country. The diverse array of writers include renowned authors of the Vietnamese literary canon, 2nd generation ex-pats (based in Australia & America), and non-Vietnamese authors who have special ties with the country and its culture.

The only book of its kind on the market, The Perfume River is a collection of short stories and poetry. It explores a multitude of rich themes including origin, the rural/urban divide in Vietnam, family, generation gaps, lost love, the effects of war, migration, foreigner's impressions of Vietnam, the East/West divide, ex pats, Western attitudes to Vietnam and Asia, Vietnamese attitudes to the West and everyday life in Vietnam. There are 32 contributors, including Nam Le, Andrew Lam, Bao Ninh, Pham Thi Hoai and Pam Brown. [Publisher's media release]

Notes

  • Epigraph:
    The Perfume River turns into liquor, I come to drink
    I am sober, the royal palaces stumblingly drunk...
    -- Nguyen Trong Tao Memory of Black Eyes
  • Contents indexed selectively.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Crawley, Inner Perth, Perth, Western Australia,:UWA Publishing , 2010 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice, Nam Le , single work short story

'A young Vietnamese-Australian named Nam, in his final year at the famed Iowa Writers' Workshop, is trying to find his voice on the page. When his father, a man with a painful past, comes to visit, Nam's writing and sense of self are both deeply changed.

'Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice is a deeply moving story of identity, family and the wellsprings of creativity, from Nam Le's multi-award-winning collection The Boat.' (From the publisher's website, 2012 Penguin publication.)

 (p. 5-30)
Vietnam : A Psychic Guide, Chi Vu , single work short story
In 2000, Chi was awarded an Asialink writer's residency to Vietnam where she wrote 'Vietnam: a Psychic Guide'. In 2003, this text was adapted under the direction of Sandra Long into a bilingual cross-disciplinary performance, performed at the North Melbourne Arts House.
 (p. 33-49)
The No-Food Restauranti"I'm Popeye the Sailor", S. K. Kelen , single work poetry (p. 58)
Red Dzao Village Dzao Villagei"No guide book describes the ecstasy", S. K. Kelen , single work poetry (p. 59-61)
Note: With title: Red Dzao Village
At the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleumi"Uncle Ho was a cool guy, now he's an ancestor...", S. K. Kelen , single work poetry (p. 63)
Sunday Menu, Pham Thi Hoai , Ton-That Quynh-Du (translator) single work short story (p. 76-87)
Long Live Peace, Catherine Cole , single work short story (p. 94-98)
Carpi"Though the painting", Jane Gibian , single work poetry (p. 121)
Plantedi"On this slate-grey", Jane Gibian , single work poetry (p. 122-123)
Footpath (Hanoi)i"Two young men", Jane Gibian , single work poetry (p. 124-125)
Vietnam Haikui"garbage collector's bell", Jane Gibian , single work poetry (p. 126-127)
Further Haikui"afternoon peak hour", Jane Gibian , single work poetry (p. 128)
The Hanoi Cycle, Pamela Brown , single work prose (p. 166-176)
Beyond Khe Sanh, Adam Aitken , single work short story (p. 183-201)
The City of Darkness and Light, Christopher Kremmer , single work short story (p. 220-231)
Saigon Tailor, Pham Thi Hoai , Ton-That Quynh-Du (translator) single work short story (p. 232-244)
The Daughters of Au Co, Hoa Pham , single work short story (p. 245-255)
Hanoi Girlsi"Hanoi most sensible of cities -", S. K. Kelen , single work poetry (p. 268-270)
The War Never Endsi"A woman sheltering under a rattan mat", Adam Aitken , single work poetry (p. 293-294)
VIEW ENTIRE CONTENTS ( works)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

Finding a Place in the World - Vietnamese-Australian Diasporic Writing Hoa Pham , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Long Paddock , vol. 71 no. 1 2011; 'This essay touches briefly on the works of Nam Le, Chi Vu and Dominic Hong Duc Golding, demonstrating how 'they provide a counter narrative to the dominant discourse of the Vietnam/America War in Australia, and, further, how they might pave a central place for Australian diasporic writing in general.' (Source: Introduction, p. 1)
Untitled Gay Lynch , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , May vol. 3 no. 2 2011;
— Review of The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam 2010 anthology poetry short story
No Nirvana Thuy On , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 322 2010; (p. 40)
— Review of The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam 2010 anthology poetry short story
Transcendence of History and Homeland Geordie Williamson , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 29-30 May 2010; (p. 22-23)
— Review of The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam 2010 anthology poetry short story
Perspectives on Vietnam Owen Richardson , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 22 May 2010; (p. 27)
— Review of The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam 2010 anthology poetry short story
Cover Notes Lucy Sussex , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 25 April 2010; (p. 21)
— Review of The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam 2010 anthology poetry short story ; Ten Hail Marys : A Memoir Kate Howarth , 2008 single work autobiography
Perspectives on Vietnam Owen Richardson , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 22 May 2010; (p. 27)
— Review of The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam 2010 anthology poetry short story
Transcendence of History and Homeland Geordie Williamson , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 29-30 May 2010; (p. 22-23)
— Review of The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam 2010 anthology poetry short story
No Nirvana Thuy On , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 322 2010; (p. 40)
— Review of The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam 2010 anthology poetry short story
Untitled Gay Lynch , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , May vol. 3 no. 2 2011;
— Review of The Perfume River : An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam 2010 anthology poetry short story
Finding a Place in the World - Vietnamese-Australian Diasporic Writing Hoa Pham , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Long Paddock , vol. 71 no. 1 2011; 'This essay touches briefly on the works of Nam Le, Chi Vu and Dominic Hong Duc Golding, demonstrating how 'they provide a counter narrative to the dominant discourse of the Vietnam/America War in Australia, and, further, how they might pave a central place for Australian diasporic writing in general.' (Source: Introduction, p. 1)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (6)
Last amended 30 Sep 2010 16:32:52
Subjects:
  • c
    Vietnam,
    c
    Southeast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
Common subjects:
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X