Võ Phiến (October 20, 1925 – September 28, 2015) was a Vietnamese archivist, editor and author of short stories, novels, essays, poems, and literary criticism. An influential writer in the

Vietnamese diaspora Overseas Vietnamese ( vi, người Việt hải ngoại, or ) refers to Vietnamese people who live outside Vietnam. There are approximately 5 million overseas Vietnamese, the largest community of whom live in the United States. The oldest ...

, Phiến’s writings deal with themes relating to

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

, war, and modern life. He was already an established writer in Vietnam before seeking refuge in the United States after the

fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of ...

in 1975, where he lived and continued to write until his death in 2015. Phiến’s work was written entirely in Vietnamese, and very few of his works have been translated into English. He died at his home in Santa Ana, California on September 28, 2015, at the age of 90.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vo, Phien 1925 births 2015 deaths Vietnamese writers Vietnamese refugees Vietnamese emigrants to the United States