March 15, 2022
The Lit Club
by
The Lit Club by NAE is a book club and living resource focused on literary works shedding light on the immigrant experience in its many forms. The goal is to introduce participants to a new and wide range of immigrant stories, exploring the variety of lived experiences.
We will announce Lit Club special selections, and invite you to read along with us. At the end of each book cycle, which will last 30-45 days, we will host a live discussion between the immigrant author and a very special moderator.
We have already compiled many great book recommendations, but we need your help. To submit your own NAE Lit Club book recommendation, please use this Google Form. These recommendations should all focus on the immigrant experience.
Sign up for our email updates to learn about upcoming Lit Club events!
Lit Club Special Selection
House of Sticks
An intimate, beautifully written coming-of-age memoir recounting a young girl’s journey from war-torn Vietnam to Ridgewood, Queens, and her struggle to find her voice amid clashing cultural expectations.
Ly Tran is just a toddler in 1993 when she and her family immigrate from a small town along the Mekong river in Vietnam to a two-bedroom railroad apartment in Queens. Ly’s father, a former lieutenant in the South Vietnamese army, spent nearly a decade as a POW, and their resettlement is made possible through a humanitarian program run by the US government. Soon after they arrive, Ly joins her parents and three older brothers sewing ties and cummerbunds piece-meal on their living room floor to make ends meet.
As they navigate this new landscape, Ly finds herself torn between two worlds. She knows she must honor her parents’ Buddhist faith and contribute to the family livelihood, working long hours at home and eventually as a manicurist alongside her mother at a nail salon in Brownsville, Brooklyn, that her parents take over. But at school, Ly feels the mounting pressure...More
About The Author
Ly Tran
Ly Tran graduated from Columbia University in 2014 with a degree in Creative Writing and Linguistics. She has received fellowships from MacDowell, Art Omi, and Yaddo. House of Sticks is her first book.
Past Special Selections
April 2021
A Beginner’s Guide to America: For the Immigrant and the Curious
by Roya Hakakian Click here to see our video discussion.Partner Lists
A list of books specially curated by authors, bookstores, and other partners.
For more info on Phuc Tran, check out his website here.
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The selection of a book for this resource is not an endorsement of its content. We are committed to presenting as holistic a view of the immigration experience as possible.
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