Vaan Nguyen ( he, ואן נויין; born Nguyễn Thị Hồng Vân; April 18, 1982) is an

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

Early life

Nguyen is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, who were part of a group called the

Vietnamese boat people Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...

. They escaped Vietnam after the end of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, in 1977, after her grandfather was killed by the communist authorities. The boat was wrecked on the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

shore, but they were denied entry, and were interned in a refugee camp. In 1979, Israeli Prime Minister

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...

granted 180 Vietnamese refugees Israeli citizenship, Nguyen's parents among them. They were settled in the desert town of

Sderot Sderot ( he, שְׂדֵרוֹת, , lit. ''Boulevards'', ar, سديروت) is a western Negev city and former development town in the Southern District of Israel. In it had a population of . Sderot is located less than a mile from Gaza (the c ...

, but moved from place to place for several years. Nguyen was born during this time, in the southern city of

Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with ...

. The family eventually settled in

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

, where Nguyen and her four sisters grew up. Her childhood was difficult; she faced racist bullying and violence. As a result, she tried to distance herself from her Vietnamese ancestry, going so far as to write to members of parliament to ask to have her "Ethnicity: Vietnamese" erased from her

identity card An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...

. She would hide in the library, where she read many different authors and genres, citing this early exposure as a major influence on her creativity. Since her first collections was published, Nguyen is considered at the forefront of a new generation of poets, lauded and supported by some of Israel's leading cultural and literary influencers. In her work, she deals extensively with personal issues, such as sexuality, and her marginalization in Israeli society.

Poetry

Nguyen began writing when she was 9, and never stopped creating. Her poems have been published in the mainstream press, including

Ha'aretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

Ma'ariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

Walla In American radio, film, television, and video games, walla is a sound effect imitating the murmur of a crowd in the background. A group of actors brought together in the post-production stage of film production to create this murmur is known as ...

, and

ynet Ynet (stylized as ynet) is one of the major Israeli news and general-content websites, and is the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronot'' newspaper. However, most of Ynet's content is original work, published exclusively on the website and wri ...

; and in literary journals, including

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

Iton 77 ''Iton 77'' ( he, עיתון 77) is an Israeli monthly literature and culture magazine published in Israel. History and profile ''Iton 77'' was established by the poet and editor Jacob Besser in 1977. The magazine also owns a small publishing ...

, Ma'ayan, and LaRohav. In the literary scene, Nguyen contributes to "Free Academy" and "

Guerrilla Tarbut Guerrilla Tarbut () is an activism, activist group of Israeli poets. Founded in 2007, the group aims to promote social and political causes through poetry, both in Hebrew language, Hebrew and in Arabic language, Arabic, performed by its members d ...

". Her poems have been translated into English and French, and several have been set to music.

Books

Three collections of Nguyen's poems have been published: * ''Ein Hacamehin'' (Truffle Eye), Ma'ayan 2008 (as a pamphlet; reissued as a book with additional content in 2014) * ''The Truffle Eye'' by Vaan Nguyen, Translated from Hebrew by Adriana X. Jacobs, Zephyr Press 2021 * ''Hituch Hehavalim'' (Vanity Intersection), Barhash 2018

Reception

'' critic

Menahem Ben Menahem Ben ( he, מנחם בן; October 31, 1948 – March 13, 2020) was an Israeli poet and journalist and an outspoken literary and culture critic. He was a frequent op-ed contributor and authored two weekly columns, on culture and literatur ...

wrote of her first collection: "How can I describe the magic that has set upon us? This is wondrous poetry. Ever since

Yona Wallach Yona Wallach ( he, יונה וולך; June 10, 1944 – September 26, 1985) was an Israeli poet. Her surname also appears as Volach. She is considered a revolutionary Israeli Feminism, feminist and Postmodernism, post-modernist. Wallach was a pr ...

in the 1960s and 1970s, we have not seen such a phenomenon." Poet and writer Tali Lativitzky wrote, "It is impossible to miss Vaan Nguyen's brilliant musicality. Her rich Hebrew has an enviable lack of stereotypes and linguistic and cultural fixations, and her ear perceives all the most desirable compositions of sound and musicality, even if semantically they are zany."

Film and television

Van Nguyen appeared in a feature documentary film called ''The Journey of Vaan Nguyen'' (Israel 2005) by filmmaker

Duki Dror Zadok "Duki” Dror ( he, דוקי (צדוק) דרור), (born 1963) is an independent Israeli filmmaker whose films explore issues of migration, identity and displacement. Biography Zadok (Duki) Dror was born in Tel Aviv. In the early 1950s, ...

. The film follows Nguyen's trip with her father back to

Bong Son A bong (also known as a water pipe) is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis (drug), cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. In the bong shown in the photo, the gas flows from the lower port on the left to the upper po ...

in central

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

in order to try and reclaim the family's land and property. The movie also features commentary from Nguyen's

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

, which became renowned in the Israeli

blogosphere The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community (or as a collection of connected communities) or as a social networking service in which everyday authors can p ...

Filmography

; Film ; Television In addition to her roles as an actor, Nguyen has appeared in several television commercials. In 2003–2004 Nguyen hosted several lifestyle episodes of lifestyle television series on "Teva Ha-Dvarim" TV channel, and in 2005 was a hosted some editorial episodes on blogTV.co.il.

Additional activities

Nguyen worked as a model for

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, sk ...

in a campaign for hair color, and was the house model for the Lichtenstein hair salon. She participated in fashion layouts in the "

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

" teen magazine, and "

Yedioth Aharonoth ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...

". She also appeared in fashion designer Petite A's 2011 catalog. In 2002–2003, she wrote a weekly column for Zman Tel Aviv newspaper, and then became a writer for

. Nguyen is a social activist, and a graduate of the Free Israel leadership program. She volunteered as a fundraiser for

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

References

External links

* *
Vaan nguyen in Haaretz
talking about her book, "Eye of the Truffle".

from the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

website
''The Journey of Vaan Nguyen'' Review
from

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

Vaan Nguyen texts
from Maayan Magazine, poems and short story, Hebrew.
The Truffle Eye by Vaan Nguyen, Translated from Hebrew by Adriana X. Jacobs; Zephyr Press
{{Authority control Living people 1982 births Israeli women poets Israeli poets Israeli women journalists Israeli film actresses Israeli television actresses Israeli women bloggers Fashion journalists Israeli bloggers People from Tel Aviv People from Ashkelon Converts to Judaism Writers of Vietnamese descent Israeli people of Vietnamese descent Jewish Vietnamese history