Simone with Viet Thanh Nguyen & Minnie Phan
Online registration for this program is now closed. If you did not register in time, we encourage you to drop in and pay at the door.
Award-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen and acclaimed illustrator Minnie Phan will captivate parents, grandparents and children alike at this special presentation. They will offer insights, inspiration and a look at their just published book, Simone, a heartfelt story about a Vietnamese American girl whose life is transformed by a wildfire. Viet Thanh Nguyen brings his emotionally resonant voice and concern for social justice to the story, while Minnie Phan’s beautiful illustrations are geared toward children’s experiences.
The speakers will do a presentation and a reading from the book, and then a Q&A. A special part of this program is a live drawing. Viet Thanh Nguyen interacts with the children in the audience by asking questions and Minnie Phan will do the live drawing based on the children's answers. After the talk, children in the audience will be able to participate in a hands-on art activity in Samsung Hall, while Viet Thanh Nguyen and Minnie Phan will sign books, which are available for purchase in the museum’s gift shop.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to interact with the world-renowned author and illustrator! We urge you to bring your children and grandchildren to the museum for this fun-filled family program.
Viet Thanh Nguyen is the author of The Sympathizer, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His other books are Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War, and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. He is the Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and a Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California.
Minnie Phan is an illustrator and writer based in Oakland. Her work has been featured by Google, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the San Francisco Public Library.
If you are bringing children 12 and under to this program, please fill out this RSVP form. Children must be accompanied by an adult who has registered for the program.
Registration Policies
The Society for Asian Art's cancellation policy requires at least one week's advance written notice in order to receive a refund of registration fees. This excludes our Travel programs, which have separate cancellation policies, as well as any programs where a specific refund policy is stated on the event page. Your fees will be returned to you through a check in the mail. To cancel, please contact us.
For programs located within the Asian Art Museum, the museum entrance fee must be paid separately and is not included with your registration fee.
Please note that by registering for a program, you are giving consent to the SAA to be photographed or videoed as a participant.