Image description: Bánh tét dishes made by Jessie and their aunt Cô Phan Kim Phụng including braised pork belly and eggs, stuffed bittermelon soup, sticky rice and black-eyed peas pudding with coconut milk, and gấc fruti sticky rice and mung beans in turtle and floral shapes, all accompanied by bánh tét from Bến Tre through Văn Sam and family. Image: Jessie Nguyễn @eatbanhmi
Please click on the image above for the full publication.
This publication accompanied our 2023 7 Year Anniversary Homecoming that showcases over 20 QTViệt artists in the diaspora and Việt Nam. Về Ăn Khuya seeks to remember, archive, and share our queerness, art and healing practices. One interpretation of Về Ăn Khuya is to return home (về) late (khuya), maybe after a full night out, and eat (ăn) something because of the munchies or having some type of craving. We hope this is a fun and metaphorical play on words of sorts - as khuya (late night) sounds like queer :)
Forward:
New supporters of QTViệt Café often ask whether or not we have an actual café located somewhere. And although our name may imply so, we don’t. At one point, that was the big dream - a brick and mortar, a place to collectively come home, quay về nhà. But we’ve dreamed more expansively since then. We have allowed ourselves space to envision about what QTViệt Café could look like, or possibly embody more so than just a building. We understand that a café isn’t just about the coffee than one serves, or the seats that one sinks into. Our art and healing collective seeks to manifest the heart of a café - the feeling of instant belonging, hospitality, and warmth. This has culminated into us exploring a longing desire to reconnect with all the displaced QTViệts across the entire world.
As our collective turns seven years old, we turn our gaze back toward the homeland for guidance, to think critically about our caravan and to explore new ventures together. This inaugural issue of our Về Ăn Khuya zine, titled Homecoming, is to explore all the different ways we venture home. For us as queer and trans people, coming home and feeling at ease in our bodies can be an extraordinary feat to undertake. For us as diasporic người việt, we too have to re-determine what home means to us, and the places, people, and signs that we may feel instinctually and humanly tied to. Finally, this zine comes at a time before our collective’s voyage to Việt Nam, our own homecoming together. We’d like to acknowledge all our lovely supporters, those of you who have accompanied us along our QTViệt journey, those who continue to color and enable our lives with brilliance, love, and attention.
We hope you enjoy this issue, featuring poetry, stories, art and photography from fellow diasporic người việt.
Warmly,
Jean Phạm
September 2023
Contributors: ray, minh, phibi, Aí Liên Lê, Tofu Root, cát nguyên, Sam Joseph, Kelly Tô, Que Tran Whitney, Jeannie (Mỹ Hạnh) Phạm, hải võ, Jean Phạm, Julia Nguyen, Linh Hoang, sảxì, aL huynh phuong, Mơ, Lan Ngô, and Jessie.
Editors: Amanda Linh Vong, linda nguyễn, hải võ, Lan Ngô, Kayla, Phương-Anh Lê and Mơ Trần