Thuong Vuong-Riddick was born in Hanoi in 1940-during the French regime. Under Ngo-Dinh Diem, she moved to Saigon and obtained her B.A. degree, but was soon caught up in the war of political factions. In 1962, she travelled to Paris where she acquired a second B.A., an M.A. and her Doctorate. She has taught French in both Saigon and in Paris. In 1969, Vuong-Riddick emigrated to Canada where she taught literature at the University of Montreal and at McGill University. In 1981, she movedto Victoria, British Columbia, where she taught at the University of Victoria until 1989. She has also worked in television, specializing in programmes for Vietnamese and French communities. Two Shores / Deux rives is her first collection of poetry. She is presently at work on a prose memoir of her family in Vietnam.