Monique Truong

Though Truong is married, not much is known about her personal life or her husband.

Monique Truong was born on May 13, 1968 in Saigon, South Vietnam. At the time of her birth, Vietnam was going through a rough phase with the Vietnam War at its peak.

At the age of six, young Truong along with her mother moved to United States as refugee. Her father, who was working as an executive with an international oil company, stayed behind but not for long. As soon as Saigon was defeated by the communist forces, he too left for USA.

The family briefly lived in the relocation camp in California, before moving over to North Carolina where they stayed for four years. They then shifted to Kettering in Ohio for another four years before finally settling down at Houston in Texas.

Young Truong completed her elementary studies from a high school in Houston, Texas. She later enrolled at the Yale University for undergraduate studies. In 1990, she attained Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

It was while at Yale University that Truong first realized her passion for writing. However, she continued with her studies and went on to acquire a degree from Columbia Law School.

Truong commenced her career as a litigation associate in a private law firm. However, she soon realized that law wasn’t meant for her as writing was her true love.

It was a poetry reading by Barbara Tran in New York that re-ignited her passion for writing and gave her the push she long wanted. Such was the effect of the reading session that she gave her legal profession a backseat and took to writing seriously.

She collaborated with Barbara Tran, co-founder of Asian American Writer’s Workshop (AAWW) for an anthology that the latter was working on. The result was ‘Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose’ published in 1998 by AAWW.

It was while working on ‘Watermark’ that Truong submitted a story written by her, during college days, for an inclusion. However, the same was rejected. Undeterred, she started penning yet another story that eventually formed the second chapter of her blockbuster maiden novel, ‘The Book of Salt’.

Since juggling with legal practice and writing a book proved to be quite hectic for Truong, she took two months leave from office to concentrate on her book. On the suggestion of a ‘Watermark’ co-editor, she applied for a Van Lier fellowship which allowed her cash grant that took care of her rent, daily expenses and school loans.

Truong first came to limelight with her inaugural novel, ‘The Book of Salt’ which went on to become a national bestseller. Revolving around the protagonist Binh and his decision to either stay back or move along, Truong beautifully explored the themes of sexuality, national identity, race and migration. The book was a tremendous success and received numerous awards and honors.

Her second novel, ‘Bitter in the Mouth’ was as grand as her maiden venture in terms of success. The novel is based in Boiling Springs, North Carolina andt gives a glimpse of Truong’s troubled childhood as a wartime kid. It received couple of awards and honors and was inducted in the Best Fiction Book category by various bookseller giants.