The Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) uplifts and fosters diasporic Vietnamese and Southeast Asian literary voices. DVAN promotes nonfiction, fiction, and poetry to empower artists in the diaspora and inspire understanding and dialogue within our community, and with others. We champion our complex and diverse stories for future generations. We are refugees, immigrants, survivors, and descendants, and our stories must be heard.

With over five million Vietnamese people overseas, we define ‘diaspora’ as a way to understand the various movements and migrations to and from Vietnam in the aftermath of colonialism and war. We realize that ‘diaspora’ is not a catchall term. It doesn’t simply encompass the experiences of the Vietnamese as a monolith, but rather the diaspora as a transnational community based on the shared and distinct lives of those who may, or may not, identify with the diaspora itself.

DVAN supports creatives through community events, residencies, workshops, and publication opportunities ranging from an online magazine to books, for both emerging and established writers. DVAN advocates for diasporic artists to express themselves on their own terms and cultivates narrative change by amplifying the diversity of our voices.

DVAN Empowers, Advocates and fosters Narrative Change for three constituents:

• The Community: We build community by creating spaces centered on literature and arts that reflect our stories and identities.
• The Creators: We nurture writers and artists in their career development by providing resources and opportunities that enhance their visibility and sense of belonging.
• The Next Generation: We offer platforms to empower the next generation.

• Solidarity with Black, Indigenous, people of color, and those with a shared history of war and colonization is necessary.
  • A Statement from DVAN for Black Lives
  • On Anti-Asian Violence, and Collective Life
• The stories and aesthetics of a thriving Vietnamese diaspora can unite our global community.
• More important than giving “voice to the voiceless” is the abolition of all conditions of voicelessness.
• Dialogues and collaborations between diasporic Vietnamese writers/artists are important to our communities and to society at large.
• Like all countries, Vietnam is a country—not a war.
• Like all identities, diasporic Vietnamese identities are diverse, complex, and fluid.
• Like all artists, Vietnamese artists in the diaspora have the right to express themselves on their own terms.
• Narrative plenitude – a wide range of voices, perspectives, stylistic approaches and all types of stories (even those not explicitly dealing with “Vietnamese” or “diasporic” topics) – is vital and necessary in order to make evident the complexities within our communities.
• In coming together as a group across national boundaries we have the potential to bring forth new ideas about identity and citizenship.
• We strive to stand in solidarity with non-Vietnamese diasporic Southeast Asian communities and seek to be as inclusive as possible in our programs and activities. We recognize that colonialism and war continue to impact Southeast Asian communities as a whole and hope to make visible more literary voices.
• Queer and nonconforming manifestations of gender and sexuality are not just additive identities to be included into the mainstream, but are vitally central to our understanding of the diaspora and its myriad narratives.

Read an overview of our programs.