Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...
, February 9, 2010. is a Vietnamese-born Canadian writer, whose
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
Governor General's Award for French-language fiction
The Governor General's Award for French-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in French. It is one of fourteen Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, seven each ...
At the age of ten, Thúy left Vietnam with her parents and two brothers, joining more than one million Vietnamese
boat people
Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...
fleeing the country's communist regime after the
fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, t ...
in 1975.“Kim Thúy” by Myriam Fontaine, Maude-Emmanuelle Lambert, at the
Canadian Encyclopedia
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage.
Available ...
; published February 27, 2012; last edited January 18, 2018; retrieved May 28, 2018 The Thúys arrived at a refugee camp in Malaysia, run by the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
High Commission for Refugees, where they spent four months before a Canadian delegation selected her parents for refugee status on account of their French-language proficiency.“Q&A with Kim Thúy” interview by Terry Hong, at BLOOM; published September 18, 2013, retrieved May 28, 2018 In late 1979, Thúy and her family arrived in Granby, in the Eastern Townships of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, and later settled in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
.
Thúy earned a bachelor's degree from the
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...
in linguistics and translation (1990), and later earned a law degree from the same school (1993).
“Asian Heritage in Canada: Kim Thúy” at Ryerson Library, Library and Archives; retrieved May 28, 2018 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.“Kim Thúy’s river of life” by John Barber, at ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
''; published February 5, 2012; updated April 30, 2018; retrieved May 28, 2018 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. She met her husband while working at the same firm, and the couple had their first child while on assignment in Vietnam. Their second child was born after the couple relocated to Bangkok, Thailand on account of her husband's work.
After moving back to Montreal, Thúy opened a restaurant called Ru de Nam, where she introduced modern Vietnamese cuisine to Montrealers. 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.
In 2015, Thúy was one of the recipients of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards presented by
Canadian Immigrant Magazine
''Canadian Immigrant'' is a free monthly magazine and daily website for recent arrivals to Canada. The properties are owned by Torstar, and are currently published by Metroland Media Group, with print distribution throughout British Columbia, Alber ...
Thúy's debut novel ''Ru'' won the Governor General's Award for French-language fiction at the 2010 Governor General's Awards. An English edition, translated by
Sheila Fischman
Sheila Leah Fischman (born 1 December 1937) is a Canadian translator who specializes in the translation of works of contemporary Quebec literature from French to English.
Born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, she was brought up in Ontario. She hold ...
, was published in 2012. The novel was a shortlisted nominee for the 2012
Scotiabank Giller Prize
The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...
Canada Reads
''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...
CBC Books
CBC Arts (french: Radio-Canada Arts) is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's div ...
, September 17, 2018.
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 Mondello Award 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
''Le Petit Robert de la Langue Française'' (), known as just ''Petit Robert'', is a popular single-volume French dictionary first published by Paul Robert in 1967. It is an abridgement of his eight-volume ''Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogi ...
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 Letters of Québec
* 2019 : Honorary Doctorate from
Bishop's University
Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Bishop of Quebec, George Mountain, w ...
for significant civic and community contributions
* 2022: President of the Selection Committee for the Ulrick-Chérubin Award