ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH JOSHUA NGUYEN

Joshua Nguyen (he/him) is a Kundiman Fellow who has served as Co-Chair of Kundiman’s South Regional Group since 2022. He was interviewed by Gina Chung on August 21, 2025.  

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 1

Joshua Nguyen recalls reading his poem "Thịt Kho" during a salon at his first Kundiman Retreat. He states that the validation he felt during that reading gave him the confidence to write toward his first book.

TRANSCRIPT

NGUYEN: [At] the Retreat, I obviously learn a lot about my own voice and my craft. Like that first Retreat, I read this poem called "Thịt Kho" about my mother, my favorite Vietnamese dish, my mother kind of giving me the recipe, but not really. I read it in my first salon in the Retreat. I just remember the room was so -- everyone felt like [they were] really listening to me, which felt really special and rare. And I remember Hieu Minh Nguyen was next to me, I could see in Hieu's eyes that he was listening to me, and I was like, "This is really incredible." And I think that validation, that first salon -- if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have the confidence to write towards that first book, you know. I think that that space, that particular salon was a shift in why I was writing and who I was writing for.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 2

Joshua Nguyen traces the arc of his three Kundiman Retreats, from his first Retreat to his graduation year. He reflects on his growth as a writer, teacher, and leader.

TRANSCRIPT

NGUYEN: Even before that, I remember my first Retreat, there was a late night cypher or something on some random person's couch and we were just like saying the randomest poems aloud. It was really fun and weird. I think my second Retreat there was the karaoke in the hallway, I remember, which was really fun. And, I think-- speaking of karaoke, I mean that's such a huge cultural part of the Retreat, and then I hate karaoke, I'm very scared of it. But the third Retreat, I finally get the courage to go up with a friend in my family [Retreat home group]. That felt like a good button to see the arc of myself through the Retreat. And I think as I got older, and I went to the second and third Retreat, I became way more in tune with using that time to self reflect, like I would journal way more on the second and third Retreat about what was going on in my life, and what was missing in regards to my writing life and the people I was writing for. I think by the third Retreat, since I knew I might not come back unless I was a [Retreat] staff, I knew that I had to really make the most of it. So that third Retreat I was really just writing down mantras and affirmations and things to remember from the Kundiman Retreat to help me with my own -- myself as a teacher, myself as like a leader, all of that.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 3

Joshua Nguyen discusses Kundiman’s influence on the creation of “Growing From Our Roots,” an annual reading featuring 10 debut Asian American writers during the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference. Joshua explains that he co-founded the event with the poet Susan Nguyen to support writers within the Asian American diaspora.

TRANSCRIPT

NGUYEN: I think Kundiman taught me the importance of giving back within an Asian American literary community. That was a big reason why my friend Susan Nguyen and I started the Growing From Our Roots event at AWP [Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference]. Because, me and her, our books came out around the same time. And we were just, I think because obviously we were both in a maze and we were both having debut books come out, we wanted to support each other. And, we were giving each other tips of how to navigate being a debut author. And so we were just like, "We should come together at AWP and start this event Growing From Our Roots where we highlight 10 debut Asian American authors. And hopefully they would, within themselves, have a sense of community, or feel like they weren't alone in the process." And I think it's been, I think that's happened. -- I feel like Susan and I, whenever we see someone that was at the Growing From Our Roots event, then they're reading with someone they met at the event somewhere else, and it's always sweet to see. And just like how Kundiman, the Retreat's such a grounding practice to remember who within the Asian diaspora we're all writing for, Growing From Our Roots is a continuation of that work. -- It's also like sponsored or co-sponsored by one or two Regional Groups. And so I think Growing From Our Roots is how I try to stay helpful in the literary space. And connect Asian and Asian American writers and be a resource in that regard so that writers can meet each other.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 4

Joshua Nguyen shares how memories of the Kundiman Retreat can help him recall what he’s writing for, especially on difficult writing days.

TRANSCRIPT

NGUYEN: There's a lot of times in my writing, when I'm revising, where I'm afraid I'm losing the heart of like the book project or something, and a lot of times -- on an off-day, if I go for a walk or something to our community garden or something, I will remember the flood of memories from Kundiman [and] try to channel that sense of openness that I experienced at the Retreat as fuel to remember the heart of a lot of what I'm writing for.

CITATION

Nguyen, Joshua. Oral history interview conducted by Gina Chung, August 21 2025, Kundiman Oral History Project.