MOSCOW, ID – Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen will visit University of Idaho on Thursday, March 20, to discuss his internationally acclaimed novel “The Sympathizer” and its adaptation into an HBO miniseries. His talk, scheduled for 5 p.m. in the Administration Building Auditorium in Moscow, is free and open to the public. The event is co-sponsored by the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, the Habib Institute for Asian Studies, and the Runstad Lecture Series.

Nguyen’s award-winning spy thriller, “The Sympathizer,” follows a half-Vietnamese, half-French communist double agent as he navigates the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The HBO adaptation, directed by Park Chan-wook, stars Hoa Xuande, Robert Downey Jr. and Sandra Oh, bringing Nguyen’s gripping narrative to a global audience.

Hailed as a literary masterpiece, “The Sympathizer” has been praised for its powerful storytelling and fresh perspective on history. The New York Times writes that the novel “fills a void … giving voice to the previously voiceless while it compels the rest of us to look at the events of 40 years ago in a new light.”

Following the lecture, Thomas Dai, assistant professor of English at U of I, will moderate an audience Q&A session, providing attendees with the opportunity to engage directly with Nguyen about his writing and the adaptation process.

Additionally, Nguyen will host a private reading and Q&A session with English students in the Creative Writing Program from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

“We are deeply thrilled to host Professor Nguyen on our campus,” said Sean Quinlan, dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. “He is one of the major authors working on the American scene right now and his work touches deeply the realms of history and memory. His lectures are absolutely riveting, and our community looks forward to welcoming him.”

Born in Vietnam and arriving in the U.S. as a refugee in 1975, Nguyen has dedicated his career to reshaping narratives about the Vietnam War and its lasting impact. His debut novel, “The Sympathizer,” won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. He is also the author of “The Committed,” “The Refugees,” “Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War,” the memoir “A Man of Two Faces” and the children’s book “Simone,” and he’s the editor of “The Displaced.”

Nguyen is a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant and serves as a cultural critic-at-large for The Los Angeles Times. He also teaches at the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

For more information on the HBO adaptation of “The Sympathizer,” visit HBO’s website.