Buddhism, writing, and mixed martial arts with Ocean Vuong

Hello! Special guest this week. Ocean Vuong, a poet, novelist, essayist, and the author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Ocean has won the Whiting Award, the T.S. Eliot Prize, and was recently a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient. Jay and Ocean talked about Mixed Martial Arts, Ocean’s novel, and whether one can be a writer and a Buddhist at the same time. The conversation went to completely unexpected places — lots of discussion about Wang Wei, Ezra Pound, Gary Snyder, and Anderson Silva. Ocean’s novel is out in paperback this week, so pick it up! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Om Podcasten

A podcast about Asia, Asian America, and life during the Coronavirus pandemic, featuring Jay Caspian Kang. goodbye.substack.com