After the fall of Saigon in 1975, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees fled by sea towards Hong Kong and Southeast Asian countries. Overcrowded vessels faced storms, hunger and piracy, and many people died. Survivors were eventually resettled across North America, Australia and Europe.

The refugee experience created a major Vietnamese diaspora literature. Poets such as Ocean Vuong have explored inherited trauma, fractured language, war and the difficult creation of home after dangerous migration.