An Evening with Ocean Vuong - The Emperor of Gladness

Name: An Evening with Ocean Vuong - The Emperor of Gladness
Start: 2025-09-08T18:30:00.000000Z
End: 2025-09-08T19:45:00.000000Z
Location: Assembly Rooms

WithOcean Vuong
In conversation withMichael Pedersen

At: Assembly Rooms

On:8th September 2025, 7:30pm - 8:45pm

Attendance options:

Stalls – Book & In-person Audience£20.00In-person event access to stalls seating, plus an unsigned copy of The Emperor of Gladness (RRP £20.00) - Limited to 6 per person

Stalls – In-person Audience£15.00In-person event access to stalls seating - Limited to 6 per person

Stalls – Early Bird Book & In-person Audience£18.00Sorry, no longer available*Limited* Early bird in-person event access to stalls seating, plus an unsigned copy of The Emperor of Gladness with a 10% discount (RRP £20.00) - Limited to 6 per person

Stalls – Free In-person Audience£0.00Sorry, no longer available*Limited* In-person event access to stalls seating - Limited to 1 per person

An Evening with Ocean Vuong - The Emperor of Gladness at Assembly Rooms

It is an honour for us to be hosting an event with Ocean Vuong in Edinburgh on Monday 8th September, when we'll be welcoming him to the Assembly Rooms on George Street for an evening of conversation about his second novel, The Emperor of Gladness.

Combining grit and grace, humour and love, The Emperor of Gladness is a moving story of friendship and how much we’re willing to risk for one of life’s most treasured mercies: a second chance.

Vuong will be in conversation with fellow poet and writer Michael Pedersen.

Doors due to open at 6.45pm.

Please note that The Emperor of Gladness will be published earlier in the year on 15th May, therefore books for the Book & Ticket options will be posted out to you or made available to collect from the bookshop between then and the event on 8th September. You can choose whether you would prefer collection or postage in the checkout options.

This event will take place at the Assembly Rooms on George Street.

About The Emperor of Gladness:

In a forgotten Massachusetts town, a young man called Hai is standing on the edge of the river preparing to jump. On the run from his mistakes and struggling with an opioid addiction, Hai is ready to give up. He is interrupted by the sound of an old woman shouting at him. Grazina is a tenacious, rebellious 82-year-old widow with dementia and she has just saved his life. Suddenly Hai finds himself caring for Grazina in her ramshackle house filled with a lifetime of memories. It becomes a home where the two of them learn how to look after each other despite the grief they both carry.

To support Grazina, Hai takes a job with his cousin Sony in the local diner. The food is comforting and the restaurant offers a refuge to whoever needs it. There Hai meets a staff of loveable misfits caught on the wrong side of the American dream. Together they form an unconventional but unshakeable family. But as Grazina's dementia worsens and the diner comes under threat, Hai must decide on the future - and that means facing up to his past and the secret he has been running away from.

Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.

Other Book Event events

Participants:

Ocean Vuong Author

Ocean Vuong is the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds and the New York Times bestselling novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. A recipient of the 2019 MacArthur "Genius" Grant, he is also the winner of the Whiting Award and the T.S. Eliot Prize. His writings have been featured in Atlantic, Harper's Magazine, Nation, NewRepublic, New Yorker, and the New York Times. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, he currently lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Michael Pedersen Chair

Michael Pedersen is a prize-winning Scottish poet and author, the Writer in Residence at Edinburgh University and the Edinburgh Makar (Poet Laureate). His prose debut, Boy Friends, was published by Faber & Faber to rave reviews and was a Sunday Times Critics Choice 2022. He’s unfurled three collections of poetry, the most recent being The Cat Prince & Other Poems – which won the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Best Poetry 2023. Pedersen has been shortlisted for the Forward Prizes for Poetry and The Scottish National Book Awards, and won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. His work has attracted praise from the likes of: Stephen Fry, Bernardine Evaristo, Kae Tempest, Irvine Welsh & many more. His debut novel, Muckle Flugga, arrives with Faber in May 2025.

The venue

Assembly Rooms

54 George Street
Edinburgh
EH2 2LR

Telephone: 0131 220 4348

Website: www.assemblyroomsedinburgh.co.uk

Accessibility information: https://www.assemblyroomsedinburgh.co.uk/your-visit/access

The Assembly Rooms is committed to making everyone’s experience to our venue an enjoyable one.

The venue is fully accessible on the ground and first floor areas for all visitors with mobility difficulties and accessibility needs via a lift or handrail assistance.

There is no lift to the 2nd floor and access is via steps only.

On arrival to the venue via an automatic set of doors there is a reception desk to the left with a receptionist more than happy to offer any assistance you may need to help navigate the venue.

Access into the venue is flat, with no steps.