Tulane University, through International Education Week and the Carole Barnette Boudreaux ’65 Great Writers Series, welcomes Ocean Vuong to campus for a public talk on November 19, 2026. With a deep commitment to bringing world-class voices to Tulane's campus and using those voices to foster dialogue across disciplines, identities, and communities. IEW's 2026 theme, From Fragments to Futures: Narratives of Displacement and Renewal, finds its fullest expression in literature and language arts, the very domain the Carole Barnette Boudreaux '65 series exists to champion. Established by Carole and Ken Boudreaux, the endowment continues its legacy of amplifying the leading literary voices of our time. By co-presenting Ocean Vuong, both programs amplify their shared belief that creative writing -and the arts in general- is not peripheral to global learning, but central to it, and that bringing extraordinary writers and artists to campus creates space for meaningful encounters between students, faculty, and the wider New Orleans community.
Ocean Vuong is the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collections Night Sky with Exit Wounds and Time Is a Mother, as well as the New York Times bestselling novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. A recipient of the MacArthur “Genius Grant” and the American Book Award, he was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and currently splits his time between western Massachusetts and New York City. The Emperor of Gladness is his latest novel.

Books will be available for sale at the event.

Photo credit to Gioncarlo Valentine