Singapore, 16 May 2025: With the publication of No Man River, Penguin Southeast Asia is proud to inaugurate its Modern Classics series by bringing one of Vietnam’s most beloved literary masterpieces to global readers for the first time in English. Translated by acclaimed scholars Quan Manh Ha and Charles Waugh, this novel will be released on May 27th, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
Set in a northern Vietnamese village during and after the American War, No Man River captures the emotional and ideological terrain of life on the homefront. Through the story of Van, an injured but idealistic veteran striving to transform his traditional community, and Nhan, the widow of his fallen comrade, Duong Huong offers a piercing, humane portrayal of a society caught between old beliefs and revolutionary ideals. Rather than glorifying war, the novel centers the quiet heroism of those left behind—women, elders, and veterans wrestling with love, grief, and sweeping political change.
Awarded the Vietnam Writers’ Association’s most prestigious prize in 1991, No Man River has been adapted into two films and translated into French and Italian. In 2017, Duong Huong was honoured with the National Hồ Chí Minh Prize for Literature and Arts, the country’s highest literary accolade.
What sets this novel apart is its powerful celebration of multiple perspectives, offering a counterpoint to the often-homogenized depictions of Vietnamese people in Western narratives. No Man Riverresists simplistic portrayals of communist soldiers, northerners, and villagers. Instead, it presents them as complex human beings—capable of love, doubt, longing, and hope. In doing so, it debunks stereotypes and invites readers to witness the emotional truth of war and its aftermath from within a community rarely given voice on the global stage.
Duong Huong’s prose invites readers into a world of personal and collective reckonings, where the legacies of war are felt not only on the battlefield, but in kitchens, communal halls, and the inner lives of ordinary people.
Speaking about their journey with the book, translator Quan Manh Ha shares, ‘As a scholar and professor of Vietnam War literature, I’ve long been struck by how few Vietnamese-authored works—especially from the northern perspective—are available in English. This gap in translation leaves much of the story untold. That’s why I chose to translate this award-winning, widely read novel: to open a rare window into the war as experienced by a northern Vietnamese village. Through its pages, readers gain more than just insight into the conflict—they’re immersed in the rhythms of Vietnamese culture, the weight of its history, its enduring traditions, and the complex layers of its politics. It’s a story that reveals the human depth behind headlines and history books.’
Adding to this, translator Charles Waugh reflects, ‘It has been a tremendous honor to translate this outstanding novel for an English reading audience. Better than any other fiction, No Man River brings Vietnamese culture and society to life. Through its dynamic presentation of its characters and their complex familial and social relationships, readers can begin to understand what it meant to be Vietnamese during this momentous time. ’
Nora Nazerene Abu Bakar, Vice President & Publisher, Penguin Random House SEA, adds, ‘No Man River is a quietly devastating novel that demands to be read. It captures the cost of conflict and honours the quiet strength of those left behind. As the first title in our Southeast Asian Modern Classics series, this book reminds us why stories like these must be preserved and shared. We are deeply proud to bring this timeless Vietnamese work to new readers around the world.’
With its long-awaited translation, No Man River not only revives a national classic but also redefines how readers around the world engage with Vietnamese literature. This publication also arrives at a time when global audiences are increasingly hungry for stories that illuminate the everyday costs of ideology and conflict. The book’s universal themes like grief, forbidden love, societal transformation, and generational change resonate far beyond Vietnam, offering readers a mirror for their own histories and identities.
About the Author
Duong Huong was born in 1948 in the northern province of Thai Binh, and currently lives in Quang Ninh. The author of six books, he is best known for his novel No Man River, which won Vietnam’s most prestigious prize for fiction in 1991. Considered one of the three best novels about the American War in Vietnam written in the Reform era, it has been widely read, studied and critiqued, translated into French and Italian, reprinted several times, and twice adapted into film. For his outstanding achievements, Duong Huong received the National Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts in 2017.
About the Translators
Quan Manh Ha is professor of American literature and ethnic studies at the University of Montana (USA). He is the co-translator/co-editor of Other Moons; Hanoi at Midnight, a short-story collection by Bao Ninh; The Termite Queen, a novel by Ta Duy Anh; Longings: Contemporary Fiction by Vietnamese Women Writers; Light Out and Modern Vietnamese Stories, 1930-1954; and The Colorsof April.
Charles Waugh is the co-editor and co-translator of Ta Duy Anh’s novel The Termite Queen, and the story collections Wild Mustard and Family of Fallen Leaves. A professor of English at Utah State University (USA), he is also the Associate Editor for Fiction at ISLE, the journal of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment.
About Penguin Random House SEA
Penguin Random House SEA was established in 2018 to discover and publish local and international voices across English-language adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction formats for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, and Myanmar. As part of Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade book publisher, the publishing house is also dedicated to its mission of nourishing a universal passion for reading by connecting authors and their writing with readers. Headquartered in Singapore, Penguin Random House SEA brings the spotlight on local authors from the region and simultaneously open the Southeast Asian market to diverse international titles. It is home to several popular books, award-winning and bestselling, like The House of Little Sisters by Eva Wong Nava, The House on Calle Sombra: A Parable by Marga Ortigas, The American Boyfriend by Ivy Ngeow, Mistbound by Daryl Kho, My Lovely Skull and Othe Skeletons by Tunku Halim, The Heart of Summer by Danton Remoto, My Mother Pattu by Saras Manickam among others.
