If I were to write any sort of letter to anyone in my life, it would likely be my childhood best friend. Our friendship ended pretty abruptly, which meant that there was no real closure for either of us. I intended for her to be one of my bridesmaids, so when she made the decision […]
Archive | On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
A Letter to my Other Half
If I were to write a coming-of-age story, I believe that I would address it to my older sister, Sydney. As an incredibly significant figure in my life, my sister has served as my role model, my protector, and my best friend. We have shared many life experiences with each other and watched each other […]
a letter to never be sent
Ocean Vuong makes a deliberate and powerful stylistic decision to frame his memoir On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous as a letter to his mother, who we come to find cannot read English and was therefore never intended to consume the text. This transforms the rhetorical landscape of the life narrative and fundamentally alters how readers […]
The Pain of Reveling
Vuong is an artist. His canvas? A blank sheet of paper. His medium? Words. He mixes language, metaphors, and imagery to create a masterpiece for his readers. For Vuong, art is necessary for survival and a means to connect with those around him. In particular, his illiterate mother. This may seem like a Catch-22. How […]
The Beauty of Writing the Unheard: Letters Left Unsent
Dear Mom, I write to you today through the perception of my younger self but with the wisdom and understanding of my current self. I do mind if you choose to read this or not, but I write as a method of research in understanding who I am and how I have developed. You were […]
Kishōtenketsu For Survival
Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous explores the settings of trauma and survival through a structure inspired by Kishōtenketsu, an Eastern narrative form that avoids conflict as a driving force. Instead of moving toward resolution through tension, Vuong’s prose unfolds as a series of layered meditations—introducing shifting themes and allowing connections to […]
Letters to the Lost: Grief, Memory, and the Power of Words
Dear Mena, I’m writing to you, even though I know you can’t read this letter because there’s so much I wish I had said while you were here. You were the first death I ever experienced, and the grief was, and still is, overwhelming. I remember that day so clearly—sitting in the car, crying when […]
A Codependency Crisis
You, my best friend. You’ve known me since I was in the third grade. I heard your voice every morning in homeroom for the morning announcements. I never knew who you were until I saw you on the playground one day. You sat on the curb, tears rolling down your cheeks. I asked why […]