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Khanh Ha

 

BIRTH OF A NEW BOOK

It's finally here.
 
I am pleased to share the trailer for “Two Shores,” a scene adapted from my novel, The Afterlife of a Threadbare Jester.
 
Let the melody of the violin take you to the shores of Vietnam and beyond. A story about carrying our ghosts across the water and finding our way home.
 
#BookLaunch #NewTrailer #AsianAuthors #LiteraryFiction #VietnamHeritage #AuthorKhanhHa #HistoricalFiction
 
 
 
 
It's for the ghosts we carry and the families that remain our north star. Thank you for watching.
 

 

 

“Sharp and haunting . . . a profound sense of alienation born of a personal identity split by war. A compelling addition to the literature of the Vietnam War.” ▬ KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW

When a former intelligence officer is imprisoned in a communist reeducation camp, he must navigate years of forced labor, betrayal, and solitude. His attempts to escape lead only to deeper loss, and by the time he is released, his family has long fled to America, leaving him to confront the ruins of a life he no longer recognizes. At once brutal and poetic, this novel illuminates the quiet resilience of the human spirit and asks what remains when everything else has been stripped away.

 

 

Khanh Ha is a Vietnamese-American author known for his evocative literary works that frequently explore themes of Vietnamese history, culture, and human resilience. 

Literary Profile

  • Themes: His writing often delves into the complexities of human existence against the backdrop of historical events, specifically the sights, sounds, and emotions of Vietnam’s past.
  • Style: Critics describe his prose as lyrical and immersive, skillfully blending historical realism with a mythic quality reminiscent of William Faulkner.
  • Background: Born in Vietnam, he later immigrated to the United States. His upbringing deeply influences his storytelling, allowing him to weave together personal narratives and historical landscapes. He currently resides in New Jersey. 

Notable Works

  • Flesh: A novel deals with temptation—the temptation of the flesh—and the human condition where your worst enemy can bring you the greatest solace.
  • The Demon Who Peddled Longing: A Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book, weaving folklore, magical realism, and history to explore love and redemption. 
  • The Eunuch’s Daughter & Stories: A collection described as having a “mythic quality” that plumbs the depths of the human heart.
  • Mrs. Rossi’s Dream: Named a “Best New Book” by Booklist and a 2019 Foreword Reviews INDIES winner, this novel captures profound emotional depth and tragedy.
  • An Artist's Legacy: Winner of Unleash Press Fiction Award, it’s an epic, haunting work of historical fiction that explores the brutality of the First Indochina War, the endurance of human memory, and the power of love across time.
  • The Afterlife of a Threadbare Jester: A powerful novel about a Vietnamese intelligence officer imprisoned in communist reeducation camps, exploring themes of loyalty, identity, and survival. Kirkus Reviews called it “a compelling addition to the literature of the Vietnam War” and praised its “profound sense of alienation.”

Awards and Recognition

Khanh Ha is a ten-time Pushcart nominee and has received numerous literary honors, including: 

  • Sand Hills Prize for Best Fiction
  • Robert Watson Literary Prize in Fiction
  • C&R Press Fiction Award
  • EastOver Press Fiction Award
  • Gival Press Novel Award
  • Unleash Press Fiction Award
  • Cai Emmons Fiction Award

 


“Extraordinarily skilled at prose compression, Ha writes short stories where a sentence often does the work of a page. On this level, Ha gives us a masterclass in building tension but realist in detail in the way it calibrates mystery and anxiety whilst full of the echoes of what might have been.”
—Book Viral

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