ÁCCENTED #34 | Stories From the Highlands
DVAN is thrilled to present the first episode in 2024 of Áccented: Dialogues in Diaspora. This month’s show, Áccented #34 | Stories From the Highlands: Celebrating Montagnard Degar Artists, features writers H’Abigail Mlo and Y-Danair Niehrah in conversation with Pulitzer Prize winning host Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen.
ABOUT THE GUESTS
H’ABIGAIL MLO is a Montagnard American, Southerner, and writer based on Lenape Land (Philadelphia). As a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, she co-founded Voices of the Highlands to meet a long-time need in the Montagnard community for connection and storytelling (Instagram: @voicesofthehighlands). In 2021, she wrote a children’s book in four weeks with Room to Read titled Yă’s Backyard Jungle. Outside of writing, H’Abigail is a hobby film photographer, outdoor enthusiast, and foodie.
Y-DANAIR NIEHRAH was born and raised in Charleston, SC, and has studied creative writing since his father introduced computers to the family. He grew up reading genre fiction and horror but shifted to historical fiction in high school, focusing on the stories of the Degar people—the indigenous tribes of Vietnam. He studied creative writing at the College of Charleston under fantastic writers and mentors like Bret Lott and Anthony Varallo before pursuing an MFA at Queens University of Charlotte studying under writers like Fred Leebron, Naeem Murr, and Jonathan Dee.
ABOUT THE HOSTS
VIET THANH NGUYEN‘s novel The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and numerous other awards. His most recent publication is A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial. His other books are the sequel to The Sympathizer, The Committed; a short story collection, The Refugees; Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction); and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. He has also published Chicken of the Sea, a children’s book written in collaboration with his son, Ellison. He is a University Professor at the University of Southern California. A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, he is also the editor of The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives.
PHILIP NGUYEN is the emcee for ÁCCENTED: Dialogues in Diaspora presented by the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN). He teaches Asian American Studies in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, and is the Executive Director for the Vietnamese American Roundtable, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in California’s South Bay Area. Philip has formerly served as the President of the Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (UNAVSA) and as the Co-Chair of the Young Vietnamese Americans (YVA) Committee for PIVOT – The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization.
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For more info on the host, guests, and sponsors:
Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) – Website | Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) – Instagram | Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network (DVAN) – Facebook| Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) – Twitter | Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network (DVAN) – LinkedIn | Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network (DVAN) – Vimeo
Viet Thanh Nguyen – Website | Viet Thanh Nguyen – Instagram | Viet Thanh Nguyen – Facebook
Philip Nguyen – Twitter | Philip Nguyen – Instagram