In 2025, St. Joe County Public Library began our Culturally Speaking author talk series. Culturally Speaking invites readers to discover how an author’s unique experiences have shaped their storytelling. We’ve already been honored to host #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds and debut thriller author Maria Kelson. Now, we have another exciting, groundbreaking author we’re welcoming to SJCPL this June!
Nghi Vo is a fantasy writer with numerous accolades under her belt. These include the prestigious Hugo Award, Crawford Award, and Ignyte Award. Vo’s writing is known for its lush, dreamy prose and focus on women’s empowerment.
If you’re anything like me, hearing an author speak is much more rewarding if you’ve read their work before. As an avid fan of Vo’s work, I’ll help guide you today on what you might want to pick up before the event!
Vo’s ongoing Singing Hills Cycle is a series of novellas, opening with The Empress of Salt and Fortune, that transports the reader to a variety of fantasy settings drawing inspiration from East Asian and Southeast Asian history and mythology. All the novellas follow the story-collecting work of the archivist Chih and can be read as standalones. These short, immersive books are the perfect choice to get a taste of Vo’s writing without a steep time investment.
The City in Glass is a fantasy with a more romantic bent to it. We follow the demon Vitrine, left stricken with grief in her beloved city of Azril after it was ravaged by angels. She is locked in a battle of wills with the lone angel she managed to capture and hold hostage, their birthrights predetermining them to be each other’s devastation. Until something shifts between them . . .
Vo has also reimagined high school literature class favorite The Great Gatsby with her novel The Chosen and the Beautiful and its companion novella Don’t Sleep with the Dead. In Chosen, Vo envisions Jordan Baker as a queer Vietnamese American navigating her exotification by her white peers. In Don’t Sleep, Nick Carraway is a closeted gay man haunted by Gatsby’s ghost. Both novels feature light speculative elements in a beautifully rendered historical setting.
Join us on June 25 for an evening with author Nghi Vo! We’ll explore her writing, inspirations, and the worlds she builds in a lively conversation plus, there’ll be a book signing and books available for purchase.
Can’t wait until then? Feed your imagination with this list of spellbinding reads perfect for fans of Vo’s unique blend of myth, history, and fantasy.
Grace Downey
Readers’ Services Librarian
