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Author Jolie Phuong Hoang shares her memoir as a Vietnamese immigrant
Jolie Hoang grew up as one of ten children, part of a loving, prosperous Vietnamese family. All that changed when the communists took over in 1975; the family lived in constant fear of being sent to the dreaded "new economic zone." Desperate to ensure the family’s safety and to provide a future for his children, Jolie’s father arranged three separate escapes. The first was a failure that cost most of their fortune, but the second was successful—six of his children reached Indonesia and ultimately settled in Canada. He and his youngest daughter drowned during the disastrous third attempt.
Alternately told from the author’s perspective and that of her father’s ghost, Three Funerals for My Father is a poignant story of love, grief and resilience that spans three countries and fifty years. It is an intimate story of one family, a testament to the collective experience of the "boat people" who escaped communist Vietnam, and a plea on behalf of the millions of refugees currently seeking asylum across the globe.
Shortlisted for 29th Annual Hamilton Literary Awards
As a teenager, Jolie Phuong Hoang escaped from Vietnam with her siblings. Arriving in Canada in 1984, she enrolled in high school and then trained in mathematics, all the while retaining her love of writing. Her work has been recognized by the North Street Book Prize (Winner, Literary Fiction, 2020), the San Francisco Book Festival (Honourable Mention, 2020) and the Surrey International Writers Festival (Finalist, 2020). A college professor of mathematics, Jolie lives with her daughters in Fonthill, Ontario.
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