Kim Thuy’s Ru Wins Major Canadian Literary Prize

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While many of us in the U.S. were loading ourselves on food and familial matters, Lý Kim Thúy, whose first book Ru reached literary acclaim last year in Quebec and France, made history by becoming the first Vietnamese to receive the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Awards of Canada on November 25th, 2010.

For her “poetic” and “powerfully written” autobiographical novel describing an incredible adventure from war-torn Vietnam to Quebec in 1978, Kim Thúy was bestowed the honor in the French fiction category.   Other categories for the award include non-fiction, poetry, drama, children’s literature (text and illustration), and translation, with separate prizes for works in English and French.

Kim Thúy was born in 1968 and fled Vietnam with her mother and two brothers ten years later.  After arriving in Quebec, she built a colorful resumé having held jobs from vegetable picker, seamstress, and cashier while in school to translator, interpreter, restaurateur, and lawyer since obtaining her degrees (law, linguistics and translations)  from Université de Montréal.  Her latest venture as an author has been nothing short of amazing and we all hope it is something she will continue for years to come.

The book is currently available only in French and will soon be translated to Italian, German, Swedish, and Spanish.  The English-speaking world will just have to wait a little longer to experience this novel.  For now, go here to read translated excerpts from the book and feel the gentle yet firm grip of Kim Thúy’s story.

Bảo Nguyễn

~And with my first post as managing editor I would like to say that I’m honored to join this network of really amazing (and intimidating) people.  This is something entirely novel for me but I’m finding the challenge to be an enjoyable one.  So in the Vietnamese fashion: Nếu có gì sai sót, xin vui lòng bỏ qua.  (Please excuse my errors.)

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