Sunday, September 22, 2024 | 1 PM - 2:30 PM
Join us for the release of Simone, an exciting new picture book, with words by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen and art by illustrator Minnie Phan. Simone is an unforgettable story of a Vietnamese American girl whose life is transformed by a wildfire.
Arrive at 12 PM for a coloring activity led by Minnie Phan, followed by a reading, live drawing, Q&A, and book signing starting at 1 PM.
Viet and Minnie hope Simone inspires a generation to pick up a pencil, to create daringly, and to dream fiercely a new vision for a more collective, collaborative, and compassionate future.
Meet the Creators of Simone
Viet Thanh Nguyen (author of Simone)’s debut novel, The Sympathizer, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, is a New York Times bestseller and is now an HBO TV series directed by Park Chan-wook. He is the editor of The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives and the Library of America volume for Maxine Hong Kingston and he co-authored Chicken of the Sea, a children’s book, with his then six-year-old son, Ellison. His most recent books are The Committed, the sequel to The Sympathizer, and his second children’s book, Simone, illustrated by Minnie Phan.
Minnie Phan (illustrator of Simone) is a Vietnamese American illustrator and designer creating visual communications that spark delight. Her debut picture book was The Yellow Áo Dài, written by Hanh Bui. Minnie’s work also includes animation and comics, and she has created art for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Public Library, and a 250-square-foot mural for Google among others. Her most recent children’s book publication is Simone, written by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen.
