Jean-Baptiste Phou in Conversation with Isabelle Thuy Pelaud

City Lights together with DVAN and Villa Albertine present Jean-Baptiste Phou in conversation with Isabelle Thuy Pelaud!

This event is free to the public and will take place both at City Lights and online. In-person seating is limited and on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The virtual part of the event will be hosted on Zoom. To join virtually, you must register in advance with City Lights.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Jean-Baptiste Phou was born in 1981 in Paris to Chinese-Cambodian parents. In 2008, he resigned from his position as a financial analyst at a major bank to pursue an artistic career. He is the author of the memoir Coming Out of My Skin. As an actor, he has performed in plays and musicals in Cambodia, USA and France. His film credits include Rithy Panh’s Oscar-nominated documentary The Missing Picture (2013) and Erick Zonca’s TV movie White Soldier (2014). Phou is the author of the play Cambodia, Here I Am! (2017), performed in French and Khmer. His works explore issues of identity, exile, and the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge genocide. Since 2017, he has made his home in Phnom Penh where, until late 2020, he headed Creative Programs for the NGO Cambodian Living Arts. IG: @jb_phou

Isabelle Thuy Pelaud is a writer, scholar, and community builder whose work bridges creative expression and social justice. She is the author of This Is All I Choose to Tell: History and Hybridity in Vietnamese American Literature and a co-editor of Troubling Borders: An Anthology of Art and Literature by Southeast Asian Women in the Diaspora and of The Cleaving: Vietnamese Writers in the Diaspora. A professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, her work centers on Vietnamese American literature and the arts, with a focus on gender. She is also the Co-Executive Director of the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN).ABOUT THE MODERATOR

ABOUT THE SPONSORS

The Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) is dedicated to moving the voices and stories of the Vietnamese diaspora from the margins to the center. For over 20 years, DVAN has supported diasporic writers and artists through community events, writing residencies, and publishing opportunities, ensuring their perspectives reshape and expand the broader cultural narrative. Learn more at dvan.org.

Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education, is a division of the French Embassy in the United States. Under the leadership of Mohamed Bouabdallah, Cultural Counselor of France and Director of Villa Albertine, the organization crafts projects and programs aimed at making French language and culture accessible to US audiences and build partnerships between French and American higher education institutions. We have offices in ten cities across the country. To learn more visit: villa-albertine.org