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.

We envision a world where the diversity, complexities, and nuances of the Vietnamese diaspora are understood and celebrated, and in which Vietnamese diasporic stories and artists can empower, heal, and connect individuals and communities.

With over five million Vietnamese people overseas, we embrace the term ‘diaspora’ to recognize the various waves of migrations from Vietnam throughout the world in the aftermath of colonialism and war. The term is relevant to Vietnamese of the diaspora because the fragmentation of families impacts us and our communities.

We serve:

• The Creators: We nurture writers and artists in their career development by providing resources and opportunities that enhance the visibility of their work and their sense of belonging.
• The Community: We build community by creating spaces centered on literature and arts that reflect our stories and identities.
• The Next Generation: We offer platforms to empower and educate the next generation.

• Solidarity with Black, Indigenous, people of color, and those with a shared history of war and colonization is necessary.
  • A Statement from DVAN for Black Lives
  • On Anti-Asian Violence, and Collective Life
• The stories and aesthetics of a thriving Vietnamese diaspora can unite our global community.
• More important than giving “voice to the voiceless” is the abolition of all conditions of voicelessness.
• Dialogues, collaborations and mutual support between diasporic Vietnamese writers/artists at different stages of their career and from different generations are important.
• Like all countries, Vietnam is a country—not a war.
• Like all identities, diasporic Vietnamese identities are diverse, complex, and fluid.
• Like all artists, Vietnamese artists in the diaspora have the right to express themselves on their own terms.
• Narrative plenitude – a wide range of voices, perspectives, stylistic approaches and all types of stories (even those not explicitly dealing with “Vietnamese” or “diasporic” topics) – is vital and necessary in order to make evident the complexities within our communities.
• In coming together as a group across national boundaries we have the potential to bring forth new ideas about identity and citizenship.
• We strive to stand in solidarity with non-Vietnamese diasporic Southeast Asian communities and seek to be as inclusive as possible in our programs and activities. We recognize that colonialism and war continue to impact Southeast Asian communities as a whole and hope to make visible more literary voices.
• Queer and nonconforming manifestations of gender and sexuality are not just additive identities to be included into the mainstream, but are vitally central to our understanding of the diaspora and its myriad narratives.

The Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions to DVAN are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Contributions to DVAN are crucial to the sustainability and support of our organization.

View Financial Statements.