Nghiem Tran was born in Vietnam and raised in Kansas. A Kundiman Fellow, he received his BA from Vassar College and his MFA from Syracuse University. He is the author of We’re Safe When We’re Alone.
photo: Mengwen Cao
We’re Safe When We’re Alone
A coming of age tale set in the afterlife, about two humans trying to belong in a world of ghosts. A debut book that inverts the haunted house story, shaping it into a moving exploration of loss, survival in a collapsing world, and the battle between isolation and assimilation.
Published: September 19, 2023
“Nghiem Tran’s first novella is a marvel: a moving, lyrical piece of prose that happens to be an unputdownable page-turner. He has created a magical world—in the mode of Gabriel García Márquez or Maxine Hong Kingston—that’s astonishingly real. Read it and feel yourself transformed, maybe even saved.” —Mary Karr
“The exquisite We're Safe When We're Alone is a haunting and mesmerizing debut. Part parable, part fairy tale, and part nightmare, it all seems distilled out of the deepest longing. Nghiem Tran is a powerful new voice.” —Dana Spiotta
Contact
nghiemtran300@gmail.com
Publicity:
Laura Graveline
Literary Agent:
Mariah Stovall, Trellis Literary Management