The Truffle Eye
Vaan Nguyen has said that her poetry is "about points of emotion and shock," and always references both her own biography and her family history. Many of her poems are about sex, often frankly and harshly depicted. But as a Vietnamese-Israeli poet whose parents were among the "boat people" given asylum in Israel in 1979, she explores themes of displacement, emptiness, cruelty, hunger, and identity beneath the surface. Though born in Israel, she lives outside the dominant culture, and her sense of not belonging, along with a pervasive yearning, permeate the book on multiple levels.
Vaan Nguyen is the author of the poetry collections The Truffle Eye (Ma’ayan Press, 2013) and Vain Ratio (Barchash, 2018). In addition to poetry, she has worked as an actress, journalist, and social activist. Translations of her poems have appeared in English and French, including in the collection Inheriting the War: Poetry and Prose by Descendants of Vietnam Veterans and Refugees (W. W. Norton, 2017). She currently lives in Jaffa and is writing her first novel.
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