Aimee Phan

Biography

Aimee Phan's first book of fiction, We Should Never Meet, won the 2004 Association for Asian American Studies Book Award in Prose. It was also a finalist for the Asian American Literary Awards and a Kiriyama Prize Notable Book of 2005. Her fiction has appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Chelsea, Colorado Review, Meridian and Prairie Schooner. Her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today and NPR's This American Life. She received her MFA in fiction writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop where she won a Maytag Fellowship. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in English and a minor in Asian American Studies. She teaches creative writing and Asian American literature.

Publications

Books:
We Should Never Meet
Linked short story collection; hardback published by St. Martin’s Press; New York, NY, paperback published by Picador; New York, NY
Publication dates: September 2004 (hardback), December 2005 (paperback)

Fiction in Literary Journals and Magazines
“The New Little Saigon,” Nha Magazine, January 2006
“The Delta,” Michigan Quarterly Review, Fall 2004
“Gates of Saigon,” Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter 2004
“Miss Lien,” Prairie Schooner, Winter 2003
“Visitors,” Chelsea 74, Fall 2003
“Motherland,” Meridian, Summer 2003
“Lucy” Invasian: Asian Sisters Represent, Spring 2003
“We Should Never Meet,” Colorado Review, Spring 2002

Nonfiction in Newspapers, Magazines and Radio
“A Daughter Returns Home Through Her Diaries,” USA Today feature, October 11, 2005
“Vietnamese Lose All, This Time to Katrina,” USA Today opinion editorial, September 15, 2005
“Happy Trails,” Nguoi Viet 2 Travel section, June 2, 2005
“30 Years After Fall of Saigon,” USA Today opinion editorial, April 27, 2005
“A Trip to the Past,” Nguoi Viet 2 Travel section, February 16, 2005
“Where They Came From,” New York Times Travel section, June 6, 2004
“Mommie’s Psychic Helper,” Public Radio International’s This American Life, May 7, 2004

Creative Interests

Aimee Phan's work has focused on fiction and nonfiction concerning the Vietnamese diaspora. While she contributes editorials and articles about Asian American issues, her primary work is on her first novel about a Vietnamese refugee family resettling in France and America.

Teaching Interests

Phan teaches creative writing courses primarily in fiction and nonfiction. She recently taught a topics course on magical realism and a form and theory course on the novel of love. Her other focus is Asian American literature, particularly contemporary Southeast Asian American writing.

Links

Personal Home Page
http://www.aimeephan.com/