DVP Author short-listed for the 2014 Concordia University First Book Prize

 

Deux Voiliers Publishing is proud to announce that one of its authors, Caroline Vu, was short-listed for the prestigious Concordia University First Book Prize.

 

Anna Leventhal, author of Sweet Affliction (Invisible Publishing) went on to to win the price, beating out Caroline and 2014 Giller Prize winner Sean Michaels, author of Us Conductors (Random House). 

 

About Palawan Story, the Concordia University First Book Prize jurors wrote:

 

"Caroline Vu shows us what refugees live through – the atrocities, the inhumanity, the fear. She takes us beyond the images we’ve seen on TV and illustrates the consequences of the physical and psychological rupture with one’s homeland, language and culture. 

 

A wonderfully written and vibrant novel." 

 

Caroline’s novel, Palawan Story, tells the tale of Kim, a young Vietnamese boat person forced to leave home by herself. On the boat, Kim must struggle with both her sense of abandonment and the dangers of the sea. This trauma leaves Kim partially amnesic, a condition which will haunt her for many years. In the Palawan refugee camp in the Philippines, an immigration officer mistakes Kim for a sponsored person with the same name and sends her to America. Years later, Kim returns to work in Palawan as a doctor. While she heals the sick, she also collects their stories, hoping to uncover clues to her own past.

 

Written in diary form, Palawan Story gives us the refugee experience as it is; unadorned and straight from the heart. Caroline’s particular voice will be much appreciated in Canada’s rich cross-cultural literary scene. 

 

We wish Caroline the best of luck in winning the Concordia University First Book Prize.

 

See the full list of short-listed book here and the Montreal Gazette article on it here.