Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei is a philologist, publisher, and co-director of independent open-access publishing platform punctum books. He is a specialist of the Old Nubian language and co-editor-in- chief of Dotawo, the imprint of the Union for Nubian Studies. He also directs projectbureau for the arts and humanities The Department of Eagles and is editor of the New World Summit.

His recent publications include Cross-Examinations (MER. Paper Kunsthalle, 2015), and the edited volumes Going Postcard: The Letter(s) of Jacques Derrida (punctum books, 2017) and Allegory of the Cave Painting (Mousse, 2015; with Mihnea Mircan). His three-volume work Lapidari (punctum books, 2015) provides the first complete overview of socialist monumentality in Albania.
As a translator, Van Gerven Oei works mostly with anonymous Medieval Nubian scribes and more recent authors such as Jean Daive, Hervé Guibert, Dick Raaijmakers, Avital Ronell, and Nachoem M. Wijnberg. His scholarly work has appeared in ArtPapers, Polish Archeology in the Mediterranean, postmedieval, Theory & Event, and tripwire, among other venues.