In celebration of the opening of Hoa Tay (Flower Hands): Southern Artists of the Vietnamese Diaspora, Ogden Museum and One Book One New Orleans (OBONO) are pleased to present an afternoon of literature and art.

This special Curated Conversation will feature OBONO’s executive director Dr. Megan Holt in discussion with Hoa Tay (Flower Hands) curator Uyên Đinh and author E.M. Tran. The conversation will explore the complex and personal narratives of the Vietnamese Diaspora reflected in the exhibition, as well as in Tran’s moving novel, “Daughters of the New Year.”

Free and open to the community

About E.M. Tran

Photo courtesy of Melissa Tran

M. Tran is the author of the debut novel, “Daughters of the New Year.” Her stories, essays and reviews can be found in such places as “The Georgia Review,” “Literary Hub,” “Joyland Magazine,” the “Los Angeles Review of Books,” “Prairie Schooner” and “Harvard Review Online.” She completed an M.F.A. at the University of Mississippi and a Ph.D in Creative Writing at Ohio University. She was born, raised and currently lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

About Uyên Đinh 

Uyên Đinh is a collaborating Curator of Hoa Tay (Flower Hands). As a graduate of Barnard College, she advocates for multiculturalism as well as decolonization in cultural spaces and art practices.  Her focus on Vietnamese perspectives is reflected in her writings, research and community work.

About Megan Holt

One Book One New Orleans headshots for Megan Holt and Latoya Taylor at City Park

Megan Holt is Executive Director for One Book One New Orleans (OBONO) and the Words & Music Festival. She received a duel degree in English and Spanish in 2003, and a Ph.D in English and Comparative Literature in 2013. Also in 2013, she began her work in community literacy. In 2015, she was named one of “Gambit’s” 40 Under 40 and one of “New Orleans Magazine’s” People to Watch. Her 2021 TEDx Talk, “Becoming Part of the Story,” focuses on her work as an adult education advocate. Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities recognized her efforts in 2023 with the Light Up for Literacy Award.

Her most recent professional accomplishment is founding a book club inside Orleans Parish Jail, connecting local authors with incarcerated readers. When not working, Holt can be found hanging out with her husband and sons, reading a good book or listening to live music.

About One Book One New Orleans

One Book One New Orleans is a nonprofit organization that supports literacy, builds community and promotes meaningful dialogue between people of diverse backgrounds by calling on all New Orleanians to share the experience of reading and discussing a selected book each year, and providing literacy resources to organizations and individuals throughout our community.

/// Event image: Kenny Nguyen, Encounter Series No.16, 2023, Hand-cut silk fabric, acrylic paint, canvas, mounted on wall, 68 x 98 x 10 inches, Courtesy of the artist