Kim O'Connell
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Looking for Little Saigon: Vietnamese Heritage 

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​As the daughter of a U.S. soldier and a Vietnamese woman who met and married during the Vietnam War, Kim has made Vietnamese heritage and immigration a frequent focus of her writing.

​Kim's writing about Vietnamese heritage ranges from the historical to the deeply personal, including essays about her relationship with her mother and journalistic accounts of Vietnamese immigration and heritage, particularly in and around Arlington, Virginia--the first home away from home for the Vietnamese community in the nation's capital. Kim has presented or spoken about this topic to such organizations as WETA-DC (PBS), DCist, the Arlington Historical Society, Leadership Arlington, Arlington Radio, and American University. She has also appeared in public television programs and videos about Vietnamese heritage. 

In Spring 2019, Kim was a Virginia Humanities fellow at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, where she researched, wrote, and spoke on this topic in support of a book project, Looking for Little Saigon: A Story of Immigration, Identity, and Longing to Belong.
 This blog post details some of Kim's research at the library during the fellowship. 

Below is a selection of Kim's previous writings and appearances on this topic. 


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Catapult Essays

Kim has published a series of essays in the literary magazine Catapult. One focuses on Kim's journey to accept her body and her mother's, and the rest focus on Vietnamese "Little Saigons" in the Eden Center in Virginia; New Orleans; and the "New South."  
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Cooking and Healing in My Mother's Kitchen

Kim's essay on Vietnamese spring rolls and what they represent appears in Al Jazeera's Fork the System series. 
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An Interview with Virginia Humanities

A q-and-a with Kim about her writing appears in Virginia Humanities' magazine, called Views. 
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Echoes of Little Saigon

Kim authored this 28-page booklet about Arlington's "Little Saigon," the first major settlement for Vietnamese refugees in the nation's capital after the war.

Finding My Mother,
​Finding Myself

This video, produced by WETA, Washington, D.C.'s PBS station, illustrates Kim's relationship with her mother and her own Vietnamese heritage. To date, it has garnered nearly 170,000 views online. 
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Perfect Harmony at
​the Eden Center

Kim's lushly photographed article for Virginia Living magazine takes readers to the Eden Center in Falls Church, Virginia. 
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Food and Family in
​Little Saigon

Kim appeared on Arlington Radio's foodie program, "Melting Pot," to talk about the importance of Vietnamese food to creating a sense of home for Vietnamese immigrants and refugees. 
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When in Doubt,
​Make Spring Rolls

Kim's essay for Ladies Home Journal examines how making spring rolls became a symbol of hope and healing for herself and her mother. It includes a recipe for the delicious fried treats.