No Man’s Land: A Novel from Vietnam by Duong Thu Huong
I couldn’t have been more surprised when our guide in Hanoi, a Vietnamese Catholic, mentioned offhandedly that some soldiers coming …
Author Archives: Will Kirkland
Behind the Red Mist — Fiction from Vietnam
I first encountered Ho Anh Thai’s fiction at it’s fantastical best in the wonderful Whereabouts volume of Vietnam: A Traveller’s …
Laotian Women Dig for US ‘Bombies’ — Still
A friend who has been following my recent trip to Southeast Asia, including a report from the COPE facility in Vientiane, Laos …
The Gatekeepers: An Israeli Documentary
The Gatekeepers, an Israeli documentary by Dror Moreh is a coup most film makers could only dream of: not only …
Why Did They Kill? — An Anthropologist Looks at the Cambodian Genocide
Among the modern horrors of mass killings of non combatants, from the Holocaust on [or for many scholars from the …
Chinese Cooking
I had a Chinese girlfriend once. Her mother was an opera singer – of the other kind. She always seemed …
A Poem — to Focus in My Distraction
While I’m struggling to think through my five week trip through Southeast Asia, and not having it rise in the …
To A Very Young Lady, Separated — A Poem, Jaime Gil de Biedma
To A Very Young Lady, Separated In the year since you married, sweet beautiful breasts, you have found the fruits …
Saigon: Surprise and Sorrow
Saigon is a surprise and still a sorrow. 38 years after the American war ended it shows barely a sign …
Laos and the Legacies of War
When the mind turns to South East Asia and war, Vietnam and Cambodia come quickly to mind. For most, Laos might …
Reading Vietnam
Packed with my travel duffle for a 5 week trip to South East Asia is one of the indispensable series of books …
Confucius: Reading the Secular Among the Buddhists
For some reason, heading out for a 5 week trip to South East Asia, I retrieved my 1972 copy of …