Timber and Lua

Stories

Vi Khi Nào author Lily Hoàng author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Red Hen Press

Published:18th Dec '25

Should be back in stock very soon

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Timber and Lua cover

AWARD-WINNING CO-AUTHORS

PEN OPEN BOOKS AWARD WINNER

PEN USA NONFICTION BOOK AWARD FINALIST

Ten short stories written by Lily Hoàng and Vi Khi Nào explore a range of styles from love stories to speculative fiction and fairy tales.

In this inventive collaboration, Hoàng and Nào blend Vietnamese, English, and Vietlish, creating a fresh, dynamic voice that captures the complexity of the Vietnamese-American experience. Their stories dive into themes of generational trauma, identity, and cultural clash, offering everything from love stories pieced together from memory, to folklore and fantasy, to post-apocalyptic worlds where Vietnamese-American identities are reimagined.

Timber and Lụa is playful, moving, and full of surprises. The authors experiment with language and translation, showing how meaning can shift and change between cultures. Released on the fiftieth anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, this collection is both a celebration of diasporic voices and a tribute to the power of storytelling across generations.



"Award-winning interdisciplinary writers Hoàng and Nào provocatively interrogate language, comprehension, and communication in a global world. Their collaborative result is a polyglot showcase that combines English, Vietnamese, and a hybrid Vietlish to present 10 “experimental narratives”—a non-love story, disorienting conversations, dystopic genocide—that prove intriguingly experiential. Each is presented in three formats, intertwined English and Vietnamese (Vietlish) with a glossary, which is then repeated (almost) only in English on the left page and (almost) only in Vietnamese on the right...Overlaying the three versions together should ultimately reveal each story in full—but mindful participation and commitment will be required." —Terry Hong, Booklist

ISBN: 9781636284316

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

304 pages