Kim Thúy

Kim Thúy is an internationally renowned Québec writer whose profoundly humanist work has left a mark on contemporary literature. Through her poetic, minimalist, and luminous writing, she gives voice to exile, memory, belonging, and human resilience, reaching a vast readership.

Born in Saigon, Kim Thúy fled Vietnam among the so-called “boat people” and arrived in Québec at the age of 10. As an author, she has turned her experience as a refugee, migrant, and engaged citizen into literary material of rare sensibility. 

A graduate of Université de Montréal in translation and law, Kim Thúy became a member of the Barreau du Québec and worked as a lawyer, consular officer, and entrepreneur before dedicating herself fully to writing. Ru, her first novel published in 2009 and winner of the Governor General’s Award, represented a major shift in the literary landscape of Québec and the French-speaking world. Following this breakthrough success, Kim Thúy has gone on to produce a rich, coherent body of work—À toi, Mãn, Vi, Em—that deftly explores the themes of transmission, identity, cultural interweaving, and collective memory.

Kim Thúy’s books have been published in over 30 languages and more than 46 countries across the globe and have contributed greatly to raising Québec’s profile on the international literary scene. They are studied in many universities and recognized for their ability to connect the intimate to the universal, the individual experience to the human condition that unites us all. Beyond her novels, Kim Thúy is known for her longstanding social engagement, actively participating in educational, cultural, and civic initiatives and using her public voice to promote dialogue, openness, and human dignity.

The recipient of numerous prestigious awards and distinctions, including the Ordre national du Québec, the Order of Canada and several honorary doctorates, Kim Thúy is a leading figure in contemporary literature and French-language culture whose influence extends well beyond the literary field.

Université Laval is pleased to award an honorary doctorate in literature to Kim Thúy in recognition of her work, which transforms the experience of exile into light, memory into shared language, and human fragility into a unifying force. 

Photo: Karine Lévesque