Longings

Contemporary Fiction by Vietnamese Women Writers

Quan Manh Ha, Quynh H. Vo

• Publisher: Texas Tech University Press
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781682832073
• Subtopic: Asian Literary Collections

While mainstream Vietnamese history chronicles a few woman warriors of the past and some contemporary female activists, Vietnamese women always have performed their roles in the quiet shadows of men. To illuminate those shadows, Quan Manh Ha and Quynh H. Vo have brought into English the first anthology of its kind, featuring twenty-two contemporary stories written by Vietnamese women whose narratives make visible the multitudinous lives of Vietnamese women over the last two decades.

All the stories in Longings appear in English for the first time, inviting new readers to appreciate the "Longings" or aspirations of Vietnamese women as they have had to face suffering and struggle, hope and despair, sorrow and joy, while navigating an uncharted course through the social and economic waves that have lifted or lowered their lives since the US–Vietnam normalization in the mid-1990s.

The wife in Da Ngan's "The Innermost Feelings of White Pillows" suppresses sexual frustration at her husband's impotence by stuffing her pillows with new fibers. The rural women in Tran Thuy Mai's "Green Plums" have no choice but to become prostitutes to earn a living. The mother in Pham Thi Phong Diep's "Mother and Son" demonstrates an unconditional sacrifice and ineffable love for her adopted son despite his insolence and ingratitude. A woman in Nguyen Thi Chau Giang's "Late Moon" violates all prescribed gender norms in order to live freely.

Longings brings together stories by both well-established and emerging Vietnamese writers, those who come from various regions in Vietnam and represent the diversity and richness in Vietnamese short fiction. This anthology expands the audience for deserving authors and broadens perspective on the heterogeneous voices, narrative styles, and thematic interests of women who contribute to the growing corpus of contemporary Vietnamese short fiction.

Table of contents

• Introduction
• White Pillows: Dạ Ngân
• The Red Cushion: An Thư
• Green Plum: Trần Thùy Mai
• The Island: Nguyễn Ngọc Tư
• Raindrops on His Shoulders: Tống Ngọc Hân
• Late Moon: Nguyễn Thị Châu Giang
• The Eternal Forest : Trịnh Bích Ngân
• Selecting a Husband: Kiều Bích Hậu
• The Haunted Garden: Trầm Hương
• Desolate Grassy Hill: Trần Thanh Hà
• Longing in Vain: Nguyễn Hương Duyên
• The Bitter Honey: Niê Thanh Mai
• After the Storm: Trần Thị Thắng
• Mother and Son: Phạm Thị Phong Điệp
• Boozing with a Khmer Rouge: Võ Diệu Thanh
• Innermost: Phạm Thị Ngọc Liên
• On the Rạng Riverbank: Trịnh Thị Phương Trà
• Spring Buds: Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
• The Smoke Cloud: Nguyễn Thị Kim Hòa
• At the Border: Võ Thị Xuân Hà
• The Sound of Lip Lute Behind the Stone Fence: Đỗ Bích Thúy
• Under the Blooming silk cotton Tree: Tịnh Bảo