Ocean Vuong: The Emperor of Gladness

Jul 20, 2026 1h 4m

About this episode

Hello and welcome back to the Inklings Book Club podcast – this month our book club picks as The Emperor of Gladness and today we’re joined by the inimitable Ocean Vuong. Ocean is one of my favourite writers. His debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous won the American Book Award, The Mark Twain Award, and The New England Book Award, and has sold more than two million copies. He was the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius" Grant. His books of poems include Time is a Mother, a finalist for the Griffin prize, and Night Sky with Exit Wounds, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Whiting Award, and the Thom Gunn Award. Today he joins us to talk about his newest novel Emperor of Gladness, which we recorded live in London at the Emmanuel Centre.&nbsp; Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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