Enduring Spirit of Vietnam - Chicago

Enduring Spirit of Vietnam

Join Vietnam Society, Haymarket Books, and Women and Children First for a conversation with Dr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and Peter Steinhauer.

Vietnam Society is pleased to present a special event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War: a conversation between award-winning Vietnamese author, Dr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and celebrated artist photographer Peter Steinhauer. Over the past decades, Peter and Quế Mai have used their arts to foster peace, empathy and healing.

The two artists will engage in discussions regarding inheriting the past and fostering hope for the future. Their talks will highlight how the arts have played a powerful role in promoting peace and building bridges for new generations. To honor more than 3 million people from Vietnam, the U.S. and several other countries who lost their lives in the war, Quế Mai will perform her poetry in Vietnamese and English. Peter will share his perspectives and photographs of Vietnam from the past 30 years, which captures his admiration for Vietnam’s beauty and deep respect of the Vietnamese people’s resilience, survival and creativity.

The two artists will answer questions from the audience, help us commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in the most meaningful ways, and suggest the work which we can all do together to contribute to global peace. The talk will conclude with book signings. Que Mai will sign her new poetry book “The Color of Peace”, "The Mountains Sing" and "Dust Child", and Peter will sign his book “Enduring Spirit of Vietnam” which received the award "Best Photography Book of the Year” in 2007 by Photo District News (PDN).

The “Enduring Spirit of Vietnam” Talk will travel to major U.S. cities, including Seattle, Portland, Washington DC, Chicago, and New York, and to Vietnam, including Hanoi and Saigon.

About the Speakers

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Born and raised in Việt Nam, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is the author of thirteen books in Vietnamese and English, most recently the global bestselling novels The Mountains Sing and Dust Child, and the forthcoming poetry book The Color of Peace. Her writing has been translated into more than twenty-five languages and has received the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, the International Book Award, the BookBrowse Best Debut Award, the Lannan Literary Fellowship in Fiction as well as Runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. She was named by Forbes Việt Nam as one of 20 inspiring women of 2021. She has a Ph.D in Creative Writing from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. For more information: www.nguyenphanquemai.com

Peter Steinhauer

Peter Steinhauer is an artist photographer, and he lived and worked in Asia for twenty years, beginning in Vietnam in 1993. His photography focuses on architecture within urban landscape, man-made structure, and natural landscape. His prints are in the collections of the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and a growing number of private and corporate collections worldwide. He is a recipient of numerous international photography awards including a finalist for the 2014 and 2017 Lucie Awards, Ford Foundation grant for his multiyear work in Vietnam, three Communication Arts Photography Annual Award of Excellence awards, among others. Steinhauer’s Enduring Spirit of Vietnam was awarded Best Photography Book of the Year 2007 by Photo District News (PDN). For more information: www.petersteinhauer.com

Find out ongoing information on our website (www.vietnamsociety.org) and on our social media @vietnamsociety.

Also check out other Arts events in Chicago, Literary Art events in Chicago.