Ocean Vuong

I just wrapped up my 11th year teaching, and it's the honor of my life to be a teacher. I see myself more as a teacher than a writer. To me, the books are more like performances They're singular things. I've never signed a multi-book contract. It's one contract per book. You know, my family would prefer.

Yeah, tell that to my brother when he has some new Yeezys or whatever you call them, you know. You get more money with more books, but I'm not in the business of selling ghosts. And so one book at a time. So what I realized, you know, when we talk about the white gaze or white audience, I've learned through my experience, I've been doing this 15 years now,

Yeah, tell that to my brother when he has some new Yeezys or whatever you call them, you know. You get more money with more books, but I'm not in the business of selling ghosts. And so one book at a time. So what I realized, you know, when we talk about the white gaze or white audience, I've learned through my experience, I've been doing this 15 years now,

Yeah, tell that to my brother when he has some new Yeezys or whatever you call them, you know. You get more money with more books, but I'm not in the business of selling ghosts. And so one book at a time. So what I realized, you know, when we talk about the white gaze or white audience, I've learned through my experience, I've been doing this 15 years now,

That what we really mean is the elitist gatekeepers, institutions that believe in their power, occupied by white folks. But we have to also dismantle whiteness down to its granular nature. othernesses in the same way we have to dismantle the stereotypes on people of color. The project is two-pronged. And as a teacher, I pride myself on educating every student in my class. That is my job.

That what we really mean is the elitist gatekeepers, institutions that believe in their power, occupied by white folks. But we have to also dismantle whiteness down to its granular nature. othernesses in the same way we have to dismantle the stereotypes on people of color. The project is two-pronged. And as a teacher, I pride myself on educating every student in my class. That is my job.

That what we really mean is the elitist gatekeepers, institutions that believe in their power, occupied by white folks. But we have to also dismantle whiteness down to its granular nature. othernesses in the same way we have to dismantle the stereotypes on people of color. The project is two-pronged. And as a teacher, I pride myself on educating every student in my class. That is my job.

It is sacred to me. And I found this new generation of white students coming to me and said, Professor, we are there. We are on the front lines. We are sick of this. How do I write so that my sentence holds all bodies with respect? Because I can't get it from Faulkner. I can't get it from Hemingway. And the office hour is like a confessional booth. It gets real. It gets real. We get real.

It is sacred to me. And I found this new generation of white students coming to me and said, Professor, we are there. We are on the front lines. We are sick of this. How do I write so that my sentence holds all bodies with respect? Because I can't get it from Faulkner. I can't get it from Hemingway. And the office hour is like a confessional booth. It gets real. It gets real. We get real.

It is sacred to me. And I found this new generation of white students coming to me and said, Professor, we are there. We are on the front lines. We are sick of this. How do I write so that my sentence holds all bodies with respect? Because I can't get it from Faulkner. I can't get it from Hemingway. And the office hour is like a confessional booth. It gets real. It gets real. We get real.

And I said, you are correct. The Mount Rushmore that you were given have failed you in this regard. So you will now have to do what so many writers of color have done. You now have to be the first. But you're luckier. You are still richer. for having come so late, because Morrison did not have a Toni Morrison when she was writing Beloved, but you do.

And I said, you are correct. The Mount Rushmore that you were given have failed you in this regard. So you will now have to do what so many writers of color have done. You now have to be the first. But you're luckier. You are still richer. for having come so late, because Morrison did not have a Toni Morrison when she was writing Beloved, but you do.

And I said, you are correct. The Mount Rushmore that you were given have failed you in this regard. So you will now have to do what so many writers of color have done. You now have to be the first. But you're luckier. You are still richer. for having come so late, because Morrison did not have a Toni Morrison when she was writing Beloved, but you do.

I have to say I was raised by women who were illiterate. And I think about this often. Where does it come from? I think even though they were illiterate, they were the first poets because they saw that when they came to this country with nothing, they realized that with language, they can make anything happen.

I have to say I was raised by women who were illiterate. And I think about this often. Where does it come from? I think even though they were illiterate, they were the first poets because they saw that when they came to this country with nothing, they realized that with language, they can make anything happen.

I have to say I was raised by women who were illiterate. And I think about this often. Where does it come from? I think even though they were illiterate, they were the first poets because they saw that when they came to this country with nothing, they realized that with language, they can make anything happen.

Sometimes it's just us three. Me, you and her. On slow days, I would answer the phone at the nail salon and, you know, she would be there working. And what's so interesting was that when you called me. This is Oprah. How are you? What? This is Oprah. How are you? I recognized the voice right away. I just didn't believe that you were talking to me for any real reason.

Sometimes it's just us three. Me, you and her. On slow days, I would answer the phone at the nail salon and, you know, she would be there working. And what's so interesting was that when you called me. This is Oprah. How are you? What? This is Oprah. How are you? I recognized the voice right away. I just didn't believe that you were talking to me for any real reason.

Sometimes it's just us three. Me, you and her. On slow days, I would answer the phone at the nail salon and, you know, she would be there working. And what's so interesting was that when you called me. This is Oprah. How are you? What? This is Oprah. How are you? I recognized the voice right away. I just didn't believe that you were talking to me for any real reason.

But when I heard your voice, I said, this is the voice I heard all my life at four o'clock when I answered the phone. And, you know, I wanted to tell you this, that your voice was a kind of Mediation for all of these women in the nail salon, both the workers and the people who went there to get their nails done.