In this episode, I talk to the wonderful Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai,  author of The Mountains Sing. We talk about her beautiful debut novel as well as a whole host of things including family, story-telling, history, decolonising literature and her upcoming novel.

Dr Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an award-winning Vietnamese writer and journalist. She is the author of eleven books of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction. Her books in Vietnamese has received the 2010 Poetry of the Year Award from the Hanoi Writers Association, the Capital’s Literature & Arts Award, and First Prize in the Poetry Competition celebrating 1,000 Years of Hanoi. Her debut novel and first book in English, THE MOUNTAINS SING, is an International Bestseller, Finalist of the 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Winner of the 2020 BookBrowse Best Debut Award, Winner of the Blogger's Book Prize 2021, Winner of the 2021 International Book Awards, Winner of the 2021 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, and Winner of the 2020 Lannan Literary Award Fellowship for "a work of exceptional quality" and for "contribution to peace and reconciliation".

She has been named by Forbes Vietnam as one of 20 inspiring women of 2021. Her second novel in English, Dust Child will be published in early 2023. 

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