OCEAN VUONG

Ocean Vuong is a Vietnamese American poet, novelist, and professor celebrated for his lyrical and deeply personal work. His debut poetry collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, won the T.S. Eliot Prize, Whiting Award, and Forward Prize for Best First Collection. Vuong’s bestselling debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, received the American Book Award and international acclaim for its intimate exploration of family, memory, and identity. His subsequent works include Time Is a Mother (poetry, 2022) and The Emperor of Gladness (novel, 2025). A MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient, Vuong teaches at New York University and is widely recognized as one of the most influential literary voices of his generation. He currently splits his time between Northampton, Massachusetts and New York City, where he serves as a Professor in Modern Poetry and Poetics in the MFA Program at NYU.