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Vietnam

• Emily Maguire (2008)
• Hoa Pham (2006)
• Rose Moxham (2004)
• Stanley Sim Shen (2002)
• Jane Gibian (2002)
• Cathy Cole (2001)
• Chi Vu (2000)
• Stephanie Luke (1999)
• Steve Kelen (1998)
• Ton-That Quynh-Du (1998)
• Sasha Soldatow (1997)

Emily Maguire (2008), Vietnam

Emily Maguire is the author of the novels The Gospel According to Luke (2006) and Taming the Beast (2004) with her first non-fiction book being published in 2008. Maguire's articles and essays have been published widely including in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Griffith Review and The Age. Maguire worked with The Gioi Publishers to translate works and spent her time in Vietnam working on a new novel set in several locations throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The as yet unnamed novel will explore the problem of connectedness - how one retains an authentic sense of self while also becoming part of something.

Supported by the Australia Council.

Hoa Pham (2006), Vietnam

Hoa Pham is the author of four books, including the novel Vixen which earned her a place in the Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Writers 2000 list.  Taking a break from her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne, Pham’s residency in Hanoi gave her the opportunity to reconnect with her cultural and spiritual roots.  Hosted by The Gioi publishing house, Pham met with Vietnamese publishers, translators and other writers. She was also able to research and write, publishing several articles, completing a collection of short stories and also a play, Silence which will be read at Melbourne’s La Mama theatre.

Supported by the Australia Council and Arts Victoria.

Rose Moxham (2004), Vietnam

At the time of her residency Rose Moxham was a writer and teacher of fiction at UTS.  She has published short stories and two novels, The Brown Ink Diary and Teeth Marks.  In Hanoi, Moxham undertook research for a novel based on the early life and poetic vision of General Vo Nguyen Giap.  The residency enabled her to meet writers, scholars, farmers, artists, musicians and soldiers and to imagine General Giap's Hanoi of the early and mid 20th century.  Working with The Gioi publishing house Moxham was also heavily involved in writing and editing a series of bi-lingual condensed classics, a project she continues to collaborate on.

Supported by Arts NSW and the Australia Council.

Stanley Sim Shen (2002), Vietnam

Stanley Sim Shen is a poet whose work has appeared in many Australian and overseas literary magazines.  His first collection, City of My Skin was published in 2001. In Vietnam Shen was resident with Gioi Publishers in Hanoi where he assisted with editing and translation work; participated in meetings with poets in Hanoi and Dalat and readings run by the Vietnamese Writers’ Association in Hanoi. Shen undertook a wide-ranging tour to the major cities and regions of Vietnam. 

Supported by Arts SA and the Australia Council.

Jane Gibian (2002), Vietnam

Jane Gibian is a Sydney-based poet whose first collection, The Body's Navigation, was published in 1998. At the time of the residency Gibian was working on her doctorate at the University of Western Sydney. Gibian’s literature residency in Vietnam was undertaken with The Gioi Publishers with the aim of producing a significant number of new works for a second collection of poetry. Gibian also visited the poetry section of the Hoi Nha Van (Vietnamese Writers’ Association) where around 20 to 30 poets meet regularly to read their work, listen to others and exchange copies of poems and books.

Supported by the Australia Council.

Cathy Cole (2001), Vietnam

Cathy Cole is the author of two crime novels, Dry Dock and most recently Skin Deep, both published by Harper Collins. Whilst in Hanoi, Cole worked on her novel The Grave at Thu Le, about a French family's connection with the city from 1900 to the present day. As well as chronicling the family's story, the novel explores Hanoi's history, including its colonial past. Hosted by The Gioi Publishing House, Coles Hanoi residency provided her with the opportunity to explore the city, its architecture and its stories and to meet with Vietnamese writers and artists. She volunteered one day a week with the publishing house and continues to assist them with their English translations via email.

Supported by the Australia Council.

Chi Vu (2000), Vietnam

Chi Vu was born in Vietnam and arrived in Australia in 1979. A Bachelor of Arts/Commerce graduate of the University of Melbourne, she has worked as an artist, theatre maker & performer, writer, artistic director, lecturer and artist-in-residence.

In 2000, Chi was awarded an Asialink writer’s residency to Vietnam where she wrote Vietnam: a Psychic Guide. In 2003, this text was adapted under the direction of Sandra Long into a bilingual cross-disciplinary performance, performed at the North Melbourne Arts House.

In 2006, Chi received an arts residency to the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland by the Australia Council for the Arts.
Chi’s plays have had professional productions in Melbourne and in Sydney at the Sidetrack Theatre and the Sydney Opera House's Studio. Her short stories have been published in Meanjin, The Age, Refo, and in anthologies by Random House, Picador, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Black Inc and Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature.

Supported by Arts Victoria and the Australia Council.

Stephanie Luke (1999), Vietnam

Stephanie Luke completed an Arts/Law Degree at Sydney University and her first novel, Harm, was short listed for the 1998 Vogel Award and published by Allen & Unwin. During her residency in 1999 she researched material for a new work exploring the differences in the mythology of Vietnam and Australia. Luke is currently developing her second novel based on her Vietnam experiences. She was nominated as one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Australian Novelists for 2001. 

Supported by Arts South Australia and the Australia Council.

Steve Kelen (1998), Vietnam

Steve Kelen is a published poet whose titles include Trans-Sumatran Highway & Other Poems, West of Krakatoa,  Dingo Sky and Atomic Bullet.  His poems have also been published across a wide range of Australian and International journals.  During his residency Steve wrote prolifically, producing a chapbook of poems set in Vietnam which was published by The Gioi Publishers and sold in Hanoi. He also worked on a proposal for a bilingual anthology of contemporary Australian and Vietnamese poetry. In 2000 Five Islands Press published a new collection of Kelen’s poetry, Shimmerings, which includes a large number of works based on his Vietnam experience.

Supported by the Australia Council and Arts ACT.

Ton-That Quynh-Du (1998), Vietnam

Ton-That Quynh-Du is a Victorian literary translator whose translation, The Crystal Messenger by dissident Vietnamese writer Pham Thi Hoai, was received with great acclaim. During his residency in Vietnam he worked on an anthology of contemporary Vietnamese short stories based on the theme of rivers and worked on a translation of the novel Mua Bien Dong.

Supported by the Australia Council and Arts Victoria.

Sasha Soldatow (1997), Vietnam

Sasha Soldatow, a fiction and non-fiction writer from NSW, has published six books, including Jump Cuts: An Autobiography with Christos Tsiolkas.  During his residency he spent four months at the Vietnam Writers' Association, Hanoi.

Supported by the Australia Council.