Trung Le Nguyen

Early life and career

Trung Le Nguyen was born in a Vietnamese refugee camp somewhere in the Philippines Province of Palawan and moved to the United States as a child in 1992.^[5][6] His parents were Vietnamese boat people.^[3] Trung began drawing comics in middle school but gave up the pastime in college, stating, "I never really thought to make it a career. It always seemed like this fluffy way for me to pass the time".^[7] He graduated from Hamline University with a bachelor's degree in studio art with a minor in art history in 2012.^[8][9][10] Originally planning to pursue a career in arts administration, he instead chose to pursue a career in comics.^[7] Trung's art is noted for its use of traditional inking and penciling and references to Vietnamese imagery,^[11] shōjo manga, and classic children's literature.^[12] He cites Rose O'Neill, Heinrich Lefler, and Harry Clarke among his influences.^[7]

In 2017, Trung was a jurist for the Ignatz Awards.^[13][14] Also in 2017 his coloring book Fauns & Fairies was published by Oni Press under their erotic comics imprint Limerence Press.^[15] In 2018, he was an artist on the Image Comics romance comics anthology Twisted Romance, written by Alex de Campi.^[16] In 2020, Random House Graphic published Trung's debut graphic novel The Magic Fish.^[17] The book, which follows a young Vietnamese gay immigrant and his parents who bond and learn English through fairy tale books, was inspired by Trung's upbringing.^[12][18]

Trung's second graphic novel titled Angelica And The Bear Prince was published by Random House Graphic in 2025.^[19][20][21]

Personal life

Trung is gay,^[5] non-binary, and uses pronouns he/they.^[22][23] He resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota.^[24][25]