Anna Moï left her native country in 1973 and lived in France for a number or years, studying political sciences and working odd jobs in the fashion industry. Moving back to Vietnam in 1992, she reconnected with her lost childhood, one resounding with stories to tell. Her writing career started when she was invited to contribute stories to a local French newspaper for expatriates. Her first novel, “Riz noir” (Gallimard 2004) earned Anna Moï notoriety and she was honored in 2006 by the French government with the title “Knight of Arts and Letters”. Her fourth novel, “Le venin du papillon” (Gallimard 2017) was granted the Etonnants Voyageurs literary prize. Her last book, “Douze palais de mémoire” has been published this year. Although Anna Moï’s writing is poetry-oriented, her commitment to politics and history infiltrates her work, through subjects that are almost always connected to the savage events that shook Vietnam for several decades.

Photo: Leon-Paul Schwab