In 2016, I was living and teaching in Singapore and often traveled around the region. One trip brought me to Sydney, Australia, where I met up with my friend, journalist, photographer, and novelist, Tony Maniaty. Tony and I had met several years before on a panel at the Ubud Writers Festival in Bali and we had stayed in touch ever since. Tony had asked me prior to my Sydney visit if I might be interested in having lunch with a group of Vietnam-era journalists who met every month at a Spanish restaurant in Sydney’s central business district. I almost never say no to invitations that offer a chance to meet people whose lives have touched and/or made history, especially if I am likely never to have the opportunity again. You never know where such an invitation will lead. In this case, it led to my new novel, which I hope/believe is now in its final draft (I’m trying to finish it by the New Year). At lunch, I was seated next to an Australian who had worked for the Associated Press in Saigon (Now Ho Chi Minh City) during many of the war years.
It turned out that we had some friends/acquaintances in common. I had known the late Vietnam-era AP photographer John Nance through my research on my nonfiction book, INVENTED EDEN: THE ELUSIVE, DISPUTED HISTORY OF THE TASADAY (FSG, 2003). He and the man I met at lunch (I’ll call him Jim here) had not really crossed paths – he had arrived at AP just as John was leaving – but they knew of one another. More important, when I mentioned another AP photographer, Jim cursed softly at the mention of the man’s name. This intrigued me and I asked him why he had had such a reaction. He told me it was a long story. My favorite kind. So, I listened to him in increasing amazement. When he finished, he asked me not to write nonfiction about it. I didn’t. I wrote a novel, all with his knowledge and a good deal of help and insight from him. But of course, the novel is not the story he told me. Over the years, it’s morphed so many times that the story he told is only one thread of the story I tell, which is set largely in Vietnam in 2015 and in the Philippines. I should also add that I have not been writing this novel steadily since 2016. As with all my projects, others intervened, and I’ve published three other books between then and now.
Another reason this took a while is that I had a steep learning curve. I’m not a war photographer. I have written journalism (such as the book on the purported Tasaday hoax in the Philippines), and I have known war journalists, such as Tony Maniaty and John Nance, and I have heard some of their stories. I’ve been to Vietnam, but I’m not as familiar with it as I am with the Philippines (where I’ve lived and have learned Tagalog well enough to get around). So I had to take trips to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City specifically over the last several years in order to feel comfortable enough to set my story there. For the past several years, I’ve been visiting at least once a year, taking copious notes and familiarizing myself with the streets and various landmarks of the war, from temples to sites of violence to former G.I. barracks.
One result of all these trips to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (Officially, it’s Ho Chi Minh, but colloquially, it’s still Saigon), is that I have grown increasingly fond of the city. I love Vietnamese food, and the restaurants of Saigon as well as the street food, are some of my favorite eateries anywhere. I love the markets, too, especially the flower and street food market known as Ho Thi Ky. And on every visit, I discover something new: an ancient temple, an art gallery, a small artisan craft shop in a somewhat hidden courtyard.
Travel is a great privilege and a luxury, but I also believe in the transformative power of travel, just as I believe in the transformative power of writing. While I would not have traveled as often to Ho Chi Minh City if I hadn’t set my novel there, my travel there has changed my life in ways that are sometimes imperceptible, sometimes quite evident. My last visit even prompted a new short story that was recently accepted by the prestigious literary magazine, Conjunctions, and that will be published in April of 2024.
This brings me to an invitation: my friend Xu Xi and I, co-founders of Authors at Large, are holding a writing retreat/workshop in Ho Chi Minh City from June 2-9. I think the itinerary we have come up with will be stimulating for writers at any level. While there’s plenty to do, almost everything is optional (I suppose everything is optional, but why go on such a trip if you’re going to be a hermit?), so participants can engage with the city and with the rest of the participants at their own pace. There will be plenty of time for writing and reflection as well. There will also be opportunities for conferences and feedback, written and oral, from both myself and Xu (included in the fee). We purposely keep our retreats small so if you’re interested, I’d ask you to sign up sooner rather than later. Here’s all the information you will need: https://authorsatlarge.com/vietnam-2024