
Quế Mai: The Color of Peace in Vietnam 50 Years Later
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Join us in person, as we remember the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war, to hear the novelist and poet Quế Mai in conversation with Craig McNamara, whose father was Robert McNamara, the secretary of defense under both JFK and LBJ during the Vietnam war.
Quế Mai will discuss her poetry, the long-lasting impact of war on the Vietnamese, and how Vietnam has continued to change politically after the war. She will also focus on Vietnamese literary culture, its poetry and proverbs, and the various Vietnamese “ways of life” that have survived the violent chaos of several decades of war.
Having experienced the hardships of rural life first-hand in the 1970s and 1980s, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai has used her literary skills to travel the world with her stories. The Color of Peace, her new book of poetry, can be read as a travelogue of the route one can take to forgiveness, appreciation and extending one’s love for one’s own people and homelands to all of humanity.
Vietnam, with its more than 4,000 years of history and culture and its poetry-loving people, remains the passionate center of The Color of Peace. When read in the light of her international bestselling novels, The Mountains Sing and Dust Child, which have been translated into 27 languages, it provides her readers with a unique understanding of Vietnam’s past and present and a glimpse into its future.
This program is in-person only. If you have symptoms of illness (coughing, fever, etc.), we ask that you either stay home or wear a mask. Our front desk has complimentary masks for members and guests who would like one.
The Commonwealth Club of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming.
A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.
Que Mai photo by Vu Thi Van Anh. McNamara photo by Malika Lewis; Vietnam photo by Ammie Ngo on Unsplash.
Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs.
All ticket sales are final and nonrefundable.
The Commonwealth Club of California
110 The Embarcadero
Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
Author, Dust Child (novel), The Mountains Sing (novel), and The Color of Peace (poetry)

In conversation with Craig McNamara
Founder and President, Center for Land-Based Learning; Owner, Sierra Orchards; Author, Because Our Fathers Lied: A Memoir of Truth and Family, from Vietnam to Today

George Hammond
Author, Conversations With Socrates—Moderator
5 p.m. doors open & check-in
5:30–6:30 p.m. program
(all times Pacific)
COST
Members receive 30–50 percent discounts (not a member? Join)
In-person:
$22
$40 with a book
Free for Leadership Circle members and students (with valid I.D.; without a book)