reaping what you sow
BY: KIMBERLY NGUYEN
More About Kimberly
© Beowulf Sheehan 2023, Used with permission
Kimberly Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American diaspora poet originally from Omaha, Nebraska but now living in New York City. Her work can be found in diaCRITICS, Muzzle Magazine, The Minnesota Review, The Journal and others. She was a recipient of a Beatrice Daw Brown Prize, and 2023 Best of the Net. She was a 2021 Emerging Voices Fellow at PEN America and was a 2022-2023 Poetry Coalition Fellow.
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Kimberly in Quang Tri
Kimberly Nguyen traveled to RENEW in Quang Tri Province, the most bombed place on earth, to see the battle area clearance operations conducted by RENEW’s women’s team. She interacted with the team as they went about their difficult and dangerous work to clear unexploded ordnance from Tan Hai Village of Gio Hai Commune in the Gio Linh District. This was the site of several key battles more than a half-century ago. In the area where Kimberly worked with the team, more than 100 explosive devices, many still lethal, have been discovered, removed, and destroyed.
To prepare for her work, Kimberly interviewed team leader Nguyen Thi Hai VAN, deputy team leader Phan Thi Thu HUONG, technical operator Nguyen Thi HUONG, and medic Hoang Thi Ngoc ANH.
“I’ve crafted a poem that encapsulates their work and my sentiments observing this work as part of a critical awareness campaign to keep this work funded for the next 10 years,” said Nguyen.
Graphic Design by Samantha Brewer
