Trung Le Nguyen, author of The Magic Fish at MLK Public Library in DC

From the DCPL website: 

Eisner and Lambda Award nominated cartoonist Trung Le Nguyen, author of The Magic Fish at MLK Public Library in DC. At a time when graphic novels, especially those written by LGBTQ authors and writers of color, are being targeted by book bans, we are thrilled to host Nguyen to celebrate his work telling stories from the API and LGBTQ communities. In conversation with former Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius, Nguyen discussed his writing and art and the importance of representation in storytelling.

 This was a really interesting interview by Ambassador Osius who admitted to no prior knowledge of graphic novels, and who was our first gay ambassador to Vietnam. All my quotes are approximate paraphrases, and you should watch the YouTube video.

 

 

 

 

"Why is my book banned? They put it on Middle School lists although it was sold a young adults book. Then they focus on the queer content. And they ignore the cannibalism."

 

 

 

 

"My father was a prizefighter and my mother grew up in a rough area so she learned to defend herself. Mr Father was impressed at how she could break a man's jaw when her foot. They got married, became boat people and escaped from Vietnam. They were practical people so they didn't worry about what the Church thought when I accidentally came out to them."

 

"The reason I set the Cinderella story in 1950s Hong Kong movie style, was because I don't have an inkling, even in my own imagination, as to what Vietnam looked like hundreds of years ago. I was born in the Philippines and raised in Minnesota. So I had a conversation with my grandmother about what her youth looked like."