https://www.an-tran.com/home daily 1.0 2023-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602431d05cf50817d10c7579/1615491247293-CCMZ12S7CLG2J47HIAQR/Meditations-on-the-Mother-Tongue.jpg Home - Meditations on the Mother Tongue A deaf child discovers to her delight that she can communicate with zoo gorillas in her native language. An old man grieving for his departed wife looks to the giant turtle in Hanoi’s sacred lake for solace, believing it to be a god. An American scientist searches the mountains and rivers of Sumatra for signs of an otter believed to be extinct. A young man finds a surprising connection to his Vietnamese heritage when he takes up the acrobatic sport of parkour, motivating him to re-learn his forgotten first language. In rich and vivid prose across twelve stories, men and women are displaced from their loved ones, their cultures and their homes, and look to the natural and spiritual worlds in search of anything that can offer a sense of belonging and lasting satisfaction. These are careful meditations on the desire to know one’s self and be known by others, where parents and lovers alike appear as gods or as ghosts, dominating and unknowable, and where the bonds between fathers and sons and brothers, men and women, husbands and wives, are built, tested and found lacking. https://www.an-tran.com/about daily 0.75 2026-06-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602431d05cf50817d10c7579/1615668387854-AE7SZ58WZPMPXS9MVQWI/antran2.jpg About - An Tran is a writer of fiction and essays, and the author of the short story collection Meditations on the Mother Tongue. His short fiction has appeared in Southern Humanities Review, Gargoyle Magazine, New South, and elsewhere. His non-fiction and essays have appeared in The Carolina Quarterly, TheLitHub, Tricycle: A Buddhist Review, Lion’s Roar, and elsewhere. He has received ‘Notable Work’ distinctions from the Best American series and nomination for the Pushcart Prize. His recent writing has focused on sharing the popular history, culture, tradition, and doctrines of Vietnamese Buddhism. Additionally, he currently serves as president to the Board of Directors for the Vietnamese American Culture Center — North Bay (VACCNB), advocating for the promotion, preservation, and education of Vietnamese American cultural heritage and tradition. He is a Thiền (Zen) practitioner in the Liễu Quán lineage of the Lâm Tế (Linji) school of Vietnamese Buddhism, and received the dharma name Nguyên Ngộ (‘Primordial Awakening’). Originally from Alexandria, Virginia, he currently lives in San Francisco. https://www.an-tran.com/essays-talks daily 0.75 2026-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602431d05cf50817d10c7579/1615663706838-QQJGFTCQB1ITVA8LO51F/workspace.jpg Essays & Talks https://www.an-tran.com/stories daily 0.75 2025-12-11 https://www.an-tran.com/press daily 0.75 2023-05-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602431d05cf50817d10c7579/1615667559058-CBGW7X49CU9TKGEZVGT9/altar.jpg Press - Brooklyn Magazine. “Getting Lost in Language: An Tran on His Debut Collection, Meditations on the Mother Tongue.” by Anjali Enjeti. May 24, 2017. The Carolina Quarterly. “Meditations on the Mother Tongue: A Review.” by Elisa Faison. University of North Carolina. August 2018. Tributaries. “Strange Transactions: A Review of Meditations on the Mother Tongue.” by Tanya Perkins. Indiana University East. 2017, pp.122-124. Buddhist Fiction Blog. “Review of Meditations on the Mother Tongue by An Tran.” by Kimberly Beek. July 31st, 2017. Stillhouse Press. “Small Presses FTW: Immigrant Identity in Modern Literature.” by Danielle Maddox. September 5th, 2018. Southern Fried Karma. “The Puzzle of Linguistics.” by Emery Duffey. June 27, 2017. https://www.an-tran.com/vietnamese-zen-sangha-norcal daily 0.75 2026-02-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602431d05cf50817d10c7579/ac4bc487-5661-4be8-95d6-bde93110af2b/tempImageqKZl5j.jpg https://www.an-tran.com/meditate-in-nature daily 0.75 2026-03-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602431d05cf50817d10c7579/e31ffbe5-eeba-41d0-9e2a-70c40a2c98c7/Untitled-5.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/602431d05cf50817d10c7579/b599bb2c-b2fa-4c73-8dd4-44fc92f9129b/headshot2.jpg