The Secret of Hoa Sen

By Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Nguyen Phan Que Mai is among the most exciting writers to emerge in post-war Vietnam. This is her first full-length publication in English for American readers. The book is a collaborative translation between the author and translator Bruce Weigl.

The Secret of Hoa Sen is translated by major award-winning poet Bruce Weigl. Weigl is the former President of the Associated Writing Programs, and has been Chairperson of the Judging panel in Poetry for the National Book Award. His most recent poetry collection The Abundance of Nothing was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for 2013.

Translator Bruce Weigl is a Vietnam war veteran, and was inspired to translate this book by his experience. He has traveled Vietnam extensively over the past 20 years and has an ongoing relationship with the Vietnam Writers Association in Hanoi, and with the Vietnamese literary community in Hanoi.

Bruce Weigl compares this collection to Martha Collins’ translation of Nguyen Quang Thieu’s The Women Carry River Water.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BOA Editions Ltd.
• Release date: Nov 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781938160530

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai was born into the Việt Nam War and grew up witnessing the war's devastation and its aftermath. Having worked as a street seller and rice farmer, she won a scholarship to attend university in Australia. The author of eight books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, she has had her writing translated and published in more than ten countries and was the 2010 recipient of the Poetry of the Year Award. She currently resides with her family in Jakarta.

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