The Advocate

Pictou County’s weekly since 1893

Q and A with Author Holly Du

June 3, 2026

Author Holly Du will read from her new book a three local libraries in the weekend of June 5-6, 2006

By the Riverside of Kampuchea, a story follows a Canadian-Chinese-Cambodian Woman as she rises above trauma and harship, eventually embracing Christianity and a new life in Canada.

Du’s own new life in Canada included time in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. She was born and raised in Hanoi, but came to Canada in 1980 as a Vietnamese refugee with other family members under the sponsorship of the Bethel Presbyterian Church in Scotsburn.

Du, a former mental health worker, has been a lifelong writer who tells stories of struggle, faith and redemption.

She will read sections of the new book at Antigonish Library on June 5, 2:00-3:30pm.; Pictou Library on June 6, 10:00-1130am.; and New Glasgow Library on June 6, 2:30-4:00pm.

Her friend Eric Wilson recalled the comunity’s role in sponsoring Du’s family. "In 1979 my parents and several other folks from Scotsburn including Rev. Dr. Paul Brown, decided that we needed to do something to relieve the obvious and severe suffering that the so-called ‘Boat People’ were enduring, cast aloft into the South China Sea (as they were) by the countries of South East Asia,” he recalled in an email to the Advocate.

“It was all over the news for weeks and people were empathizing with their desperate plight all over the Western world. Anyone who was conscious of world events in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s knew of the ‘Boat People’.” He said after a “ton of red tape”, the group was successful in becoming sponsors to a family of six, three young Chinese-Vietnamese women Mai, Yo (Yvon) and Hua (Holly) Du, who arrived in 1980, and their brother Ping, his wife Che and their daughter Phuong (Victoria) arrived in 1981.

Du and her sisters subsequently migrated to Toronto and her brother Ping and family to Edmonton. “Over the year my mother Kay Wilson and Rev. Paul Brown kept in touch, tracking their lives and praying for their success. And they all did succeed,” Wislon said.

Prior to her readings, Du answered some questions from the Advocate.

Q. Tell us all about your connection to Pictou County, including your journey to Canada?

A. It is a long story. The Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) refugee influx hit Hong Kong and many Southeast countries like a powerful tsunami in 1979 was indeed the continuation of the Indochina war, as historians often called it - the hot war in the Cold War era.  I was one of those ten of thousands people who lost their home due to my ethnic background. I, along with my sisters and brother, fled to Hong Kong in 1979, and we stayed in the Kak Tak Refugee Camp for about a year. I came to Canada in April 1980 under the sponsorship of Bethel Presbyterian Church, Scotsburn.

Q. How do you think the time in Pictou County influenced you?

A. Deep and profound - my sister and I attended ESL in Pictou Academy in 1980, and I started learning English and Canadian culture, and this has given me not only a good start but also a life-long benefit.

Q. Where do you live now?

A. I have been living in Toronto since 1982. I moved to Toronto for better education and employment opportunities.

Q. How many books have you written?

A. I began writing at the age of 14, and have since authored 14 non-fiction books, and translated two from English into Chinese.

Q. Tell us about your latest book?

A. By the Riverside of Kampuchea shares the extraordinary journey of Sieu Van Tran who endures sexism, ethnic violence and trauma (PTSD), and ultimately discovers healing and identity through faith in Christ. Holly invites readers to witness how grace can emerge from even the deepest suffering.

Q. How many include a reference to Pictou County?

A. I always consider Pictou County as my Canadian hometown. In my biograph, I devoted a chapter to writing about my life in Scotsburn, Pictou County; I also write about Nova Scotia in my column from time to time.

Q. You have some readings in Pictou County area coming up. Tell us about those?

A. From unable to speak a single word in English, and now I am able to translate one of my books into English, I want to come to Pictou county to do a book-reading in public libraries in three towns: Pictou, New Glasgow and Antigonish. It is not only to promote my book, but it is a celebration of the generous and kind work that the people of Pictou county had done for a new immigrant, a refugee some forty years ago. 

Further reading on Indochina refugees:

1) Arrival of Refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in Canada National Historic Event

https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/evenement-event/arrivee-vietnamiens-arrival-vietnamese

2) Significant events in the history of Asian communities in Canada/Journey to freedom

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/asian-heritage-month/important-events.html