Kim Thúy
Kim Thúy Vietnamese Canadian | |
---|---|
Alma mater | Université de Montréal |
Genre | Migrant literature |
Notable work | Ru (2009) |
Children | 2 |
Kim Thúy Ly Thanh,
Life and career
At the age of ten, Thúy left Vietnam with her parents and two brothers, joining more than one million Vietnamese
Thúy earned a bachelor's degree from the Université de Montréal in linguistics and translation (1990), and later earned a law degree from the same school (1993). [8] In her early career, Thúy worked as a translator and interpreter and was later recruited by the Montreal-based law firm Stikeman Elliott to help with a Vietnam-based project.[9] In this capacity, she returned to Vietnam as one of a group of Canadian experts advising the country's Communist leadership on their tentative steps toward capitalism.[9] She met her husband while working at the same firm, and the couple had their first child while on assignment in Vietnam.[6] Their second child was born after the couple relocated to Bangkok, Thailand on account of her husband's work.[6]
After moving back to Montreal, Thúy opened a restaurant called Ru de Nam,[8] where she introduced modern Vietnamese cuisine to Montrealers.[6] She worked as a restaurateur for five years, after which she dedicated one full year to creative writing, and landed a publishing contract for her first book thanks to a former patron of Ru de Nam.[6]
In 2015, Thúy was one of the recipients of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards presented by
In 2017, Thúy was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate[11] from Concordia University.
She was nominated for the New Academy Prize in Literature in 2018.[12][13]
Work
Thúy's debut novel Ru won the Governor General's Award for French-language fiction at the 2010 Governor General's Awards.
In 2016, Thúy published her third novel, Vi. An English translation, again by Fischman, was published in 2018.[17] The book was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.[18]
Ru, a film adaptation of Thúy's novel, was directed by Charles-Olivier Michaud and was released in 2023.[19]
Bibliography
- Ru (2009)
- À toi (2011), co-written with Pascal Janovjak
- Mãn (2013)
- Vi (2016)
- Le secret des Vietnamiennes (2017)
- L’Autisme expliqué aux non-autistes (2017), collaborated with Brigitte Harrisson and Lise St-Charles
- Le poisson et l'oiseau (2019)
- Em (2020)
Awards and honours
- 2010 : RTL-Lire Grand Prize for Ru
- 2010 : La Presse General Public Award, Montréal Book Fair, Essay category
- 2010 : Governor-general's Award, novels category for Ru
- 2011 : Premio MondelloAward for Multiculturalism
- 2011 : Archambault Grand Literary Award for the novel Ru
- 2013 : Award for Tolerance Paul-Gérin-Lajoie, awarded in 2013 by the Committee for Respect for Diversity
- 2015 : Knightess of the National Order of Québec, Government of Québec
- 2016 : Spokesperson for Petit Robert between 2016 and 2018, Kim Thúy was featured in the 2018 edition of the Robert illustré
- 2017 : Honorary Doctorate from Concordia University for the use of her eloquent voice to highlight the experience of refugees
- 2017 : Medal of Honour from the National Assembly of Québec
- 2018 : Women's Merit Award from the Women's Y Foundation of Montréal
- 2018 : Finalist for the alternate Nobel Prize for Literature
- 2019 : Companion of the Order of Arts and Lettersof Québec
- 2019 : Honorary Doctorate from Bishop's University for significant civic and community contributions
- 2022: President of the Selection Committee for the Ulrick-Chérubin Award
References
- ^ "From lawyer to novelist: an alumna's amazing journey" Archived 2014-10-12 at the Wayback Machine. Université de Montréal, February 9, 2010.
- ^ a b "Eight Quebec writers win Governor General's prizes"[permanent dead link]. The Gazette, November 17, 2010.
- Canadian Encyclopedia; published February 27, 2012; last edited January 18, 2018; retrieved May 28, 2018
- ^ “Kim Thúy on how ‘refugee literature’ differs from immigrant literature“, by Brian Bethune, at Maclean's; published April 11, 2018, retrieved May 28, 2018
- National Public Radio, on Weekend Edition Saturday; aired on November 24, 2012; retrieved May 28, 2018
- ^ a b c d e “Q&A with Kim Thúy”, interview by Terry Hong, at BLOOM; published September 18, 2013, retrieved May 28, 2018
- ^ “RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrants: Canada's Top 25 Immigrants: Kim Thúy”, by Lisa Evans, at Canadian Immigrant; retrieved May 28, 2018
- ^ a b “Asian Heritage in Canada: Kim Thúy” at Ryerson Library, Library and Archives; retrieved May 28, 2018
- ^ a b “Kim Thúy's river of life”, by John Barber, at The Globe and Mail; published February 5, 2012; updated April 30, 2018; retrieved May 28, 2018
- ^ "Canadas Top 25 Immigrants 2015". Canadian Immigrant. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
- ^ "Honorary degree citation - Kim Thúy". www.concordia.ca. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
- ^ "Canadian writer Kim Thuy among finalists for New Academy Prize in Literature". Calgary Herald. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
- ^ Löfgren, Emma (29 August 2018). "Four writers shortlisted for 'the new Nobel Literature Prize'". The Local. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
- ^ "Kim Thuy's novel Ru draws on refugee past". CBC News, March 9, 2012.
- ^ "Scotiabank Giller Prize short list announced". Toronto Star, October 1, 2012.
- Brandon Sun, March 19, 2015.
- CBC Books, April 4, 2018.
- CBC Books, September 17, 2018.
- ^ Maxime Demers, "Une bande-annonce prometteuse pour «Ru», le film adapté du roman à succès de Kim Thúy". Le Journal de Montréal, July 12, 2023.