Colors of April

Quan Manh Ha (editor) was born and grew up in Vietnam. He came to the United States at the age of 22 for graduate studies and graduated with a doctorate in English from Texas Tech University in 2011. He is currently Professor of English at the University of Montana, where he teaches and researches American literature, Vietnam War literature, multiethnic US literature, and literary translation. He is the co-translator of Other Moons, Hanoi at Midnight, The Termite Queen, Longings, and ‘Light Out’ and Modern Vietnamese Stories, 1930-1954. He lives in Missoula, Montana.Cab Tran was born in Vietnam and emigrated to the United States with his parents during the diaspora. He holds an MFA from the University of Michigan Helen Zell Writers’ Program. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Iconoclast, Black Warrior Review, Parcel, Oleander Review, Distinctly Montana Quarterly, Missoula Independent, and elsewhere. He lives in Helena, Montana.

• Introduction by the editorsWar’s End by Vũ Cao PhanIn Silence, In Rain by Trần Thị Tú Ngọc5A, 5B, DEST: SGN by Andrew LamLaws of Motion by Barbara TranThe Immolation by Viet Thanh NguyenA Rockfall Dream by Nguyễn Thị Kim HòaA New Perspective by Lê Vũ Trường GiangA Vietnamese Arrière-Boutique by Kevin D. PhamThe Fish and the Banyan Tree by Elizabeth TranOakland Night Question by Phùng NguyễnMIA, MIO; POW, POP by Lưu Vĩ LânA Jarai Tribesman and His Wife by Nguyễn Đức TùngCountry in a Glass of Water by Vi Khi NaoThe Blood Lily by Vương TâmBad Things Didn’t Happen by Gin ToNight by Nguyễn Mỹ NữLost Love by Vu TranWhat the War Left Behind by Nguyễn Minh ChuyênChị Nhàn at the End Time by Thuy DinhA Mother’s Song by Annhien NguyenThe Passed Season by Bảo ThươngEchoes by Văn XươngSix’s Sign by Anvi HoàngThe Việt Kiều Casanova by Tuan PhanKinship by Lại Văn LongAmerican Grass by Nguyễn Thu TrânA Small Dream for the Year 2000 by Ngô Thế VinhThe Return, by Christina VoAbout the Editors and ContributorsPermissions/AcknowledgmentsResources

“The Colors of April is not just a portrait of war; it delves into the psychological, cultural, and historical effects of war on a people and the lingering concerns of Vietnamese across the 50-year span from 1975 to 2025. More importantly, it raises a question for today’s readers: Like the characters in the book, how do we find reconciliation within our own identities and histories? And how can we use the lessons of the past 50 years to build a better future for the next 50?” —VietBao"The Colors of April is a beautifully curated, deeply moving collection that gives voice to a global Vietnamese experience long overdue in contemporary literature.” —San Francisco Book Review“Speaks with deep emotion from individuals on both sides of the historical divide, caught in the tides of time, reflecting on 50 years since the war ended and on the journey of reconciliation and harmony between the two former frontlines.” —Thời Nay, Báo Nhân Dân“Short stories by Vietnamese and Vietnamese American authors talking about the Vietnam war from their point of view in the form of fiction. . . . They were all unique.” —Book Notions“A poignant literary tapestry ... The narratives, diverse in voice and vision, ultimately converge to illuminate universal human struggles that transcend time and geography.” —Cha: An Asian Literary Journal“An important anthology . . . ““We are defined not by the wars we fight, but by the stories we choose to tell,” the editors write. We, equally, can be defined by the stories we choose to read.” —The VVA Veteran Magazine“A well-rounded view of the war and its aftermath via writers from a multitude of backgrounds, generations, circumstances, and perspectives as well as styles. Amongst the book’s 28 stories are several that contain expected themes: war is miserable; grief eclipses winners and losers; physical and emotional traumas get passed down, and reconciliation is not just possible but essential for healing.” —Saigoneer"It took 50 years after the end of the Vietnam War for a book that brings together the perspectives of Vietnamese writers, regardless of their political affiliations or citizenship status, to be published. A significant milestone in itself." —Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, Executive Director, Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN)“Quan Manh Ha and Cab Tran have assembled a wide-ranging collection that shows the depth and richness of post-Vietnam War literature from around the globe. The Colors of April is an important anthology that acts as a bridge between two sides and, ultimately, the past and present. This will be the book I reach for when someone asks about the Vietnam War.” —Eric Nguyen, author, Things We Lost to the Water“The Colors of April puts a human face on the experiences and consequences of war as viewed from the Vietnamese perspective. To be a fully informed citizen, this book, is, in a word, essential reading.” —Donald Anderson, editor, War, Literature & the Arts; author, Fragments of a Mortal Mind“The stories in The Colors of April span generations—from the perspectives of native-born Vietnamese survivors to narratives from the contemporary diaspora—forming a powerful collage that bears witness and wraps the reader in the multiple realities of the Vietnam War.” —Micah Fields, author, We Hold Our Breath; Marine Corps combat veteran