Viet Thanh Nguyen

That gives me hope.

The stuff I post on social media about Gaza and about Palestine, I get so much human reaction from that, from Palestinians, from non-Palestinians.

And I'm not Palestinian.

What right do I have to talk about that issue?

But it's a human issue.

So, I'm continually reminded of the fact that if we tell the truth through our art, through our passions, through even social media, people will respond because people can recognize when a truth is being told.

What does your hate mail look like?

You know what?

I think I'm actually sort of, again, the Pulitzer Prize, I think, has insulated me from a lot of hate mail because I have a lot of friends.

Women of color get much more hate mail than I do.

And I hate emails, hate messages, and all that.

I've had a couple of stalkers in my life.

That's been challenging to deal with.

But the hate mail that shows up hasn't been that often.

And oftentimes, it makes me laugh.

And the times it gets discouraging is when I try to reach out.

Like, remember,

Soon after the sympathizer came out, I got this angry letter from an American veteran, you know, the typical love it or leave it kind of thing.

And I wrote him back and I said, look, I think you're full of rage and anger and it's got you.

It's got you.