Ocean Vuong Books in Order
Ocean Vuong has written 5 books, published between 2010 and 2025. The first book is Burnings (2010) and the newest is The Emperor of Gladness (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 5
- Published
- 2010–2025
- Pages on record
- 441 in 3 of 5 books
- Reading time
- 7.3–11 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 441 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 3 of 5 titles with a page count on record.
Ocean Vuong, born Vương Quốc Vinh in 1988, is an American poet, essayist, novelist and photographer. Poetry came first, in Burnings (2010) and Night Sky with Exit Wounds (2016), and the debut novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous arrived in 2019, the year Vuong received a MacArthur Fellowship. Mothers and sons, Asian American experience and coming of age run through the work. Five books are catalogued, reaching Time Is a Mother (2022) and The Emperor of Gladness (2025). Earlier honours include the 2016 Whiting Award and the 2017 T. S. Eliot Prize.
How many Ocean Vuong books are there?
Ocean Vuong has 5 books, released between 2010 and 2025.
Ocean Vuong Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 5 Ocean Vuong books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Burnings2010 · confirmed 2/42010–2/4
- 2Night Sky with Exit Wounds2016 · 89 pages · confirmed 2/42016892/4
- 3On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous2019 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/420192562/4
- 4Time Is a Mother2022 · 96 pages · confirmed 2/42022962/4
- 5The Emperor of Gladness2025 · confirmed 2/42025–2/4
Ocean Vuong books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Standalone books
5 books5 Ocean Vuong titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Ocean Vuong books in order?
No. No source lists any of the 5 Ocean Vuong books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.
Where to start with Ocean Vuong
Start with Burnings (2010), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Ocean Vuong book?
The Emperor of Gladness (2025) is the newest Ocean Vuong book released so far.
Is there a new Ocean Vuong book coming?
No next Ocean Vuong book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Ocean Vuong has won
Wikidata records 2 awards for Ocean Vuong. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Whiting Awards2016Won
- Chad Walsh Poetry Prize2013Won
Ocean Vuong at a glance
- Still publishing
- Ocean Vuong published a book as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Ocean Vuong books have appeared about one every 4 years on average.
- Length
- 441 pages across the 3 of 5 books with a recorded length, a median of 96 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Ocean Vuong books, 3 of 5, were published in the 2010s.
What the Ocean Vuong books are about
4 of the 5 Ocean Vuong books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: poetry is tagged on 2 of 4. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Poetry 2 of 4 books
- Mothers and sons 2 of 4 books
- Americans 1 of 4 books
- American literature 1 of 4 books
- Asian American 1 of 4 books
- Collection:thom_gunn_award=winner 1 of 4 books
- Coming of age 1 of 4 books
- Cultural heritage 1 of 4 books
- LGBTQ novels 1 of 4 books
- LGBTQ poetry 1 of 4 books