Students with Pulitzer Prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen. Photo Courtesy LAPS

LAHS AP English Literature students who attended the Santa Fe International Literary Festival. Photo Courtesy LAPS

LAPS NEWS RELEASE

Los Alamos High School AP English Literature students who attended the Santa Fe International AP Literature and Composition students and alumni from Los Alamos High School were invited to attend the Santa Fe International Literary Festival on Saturday, May 17, to hear a talk given by Pulitzer Prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Catherine Puranananda teaches Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer every year, and it is typically a favorite read amongst her students. LAHS senior Zoe Bent felt it was “an amazing twist on what we have done in class” in which “discussions center around our own interpretations of the
author’s intentions and choices, while the talk provided us with insights directly from the
author.” Nguyen signed the students’ books and inquired about each one’s post-high school
plans. For student Natalie Crawford, also a LAHS senior, it was “the coolest thing that happened
to me this year.”

Puranananda has plans to expand her work with the literary festival next year.