Tuan Phan is a literature teacher and writer currently living in Saigon, Vietnam. Tuan was born in Saigon and immigrated to the United States in 1986 after the Vietnam-American war. He’s now back in the city he first called home to trace his roots.

In part 1, we talk about his refugee experience fleeing Saigon as a child and settling in the United States, pursuing life and work in Hong Kong, returning to Vietnam, and the idea of “home” and where that might be for a displaced person.

In part 2, we discuss his upcoming memoir, what it means to read from writers of similar culture and background, and reflect on the issue of personal identity.