"I think that different races struggle against different types of racism. I think that, Asian-Americans, it's 'We're never from here,' and so our history is largely seen as irrelevant if it gets acknowledged at all." --Bao Phi
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I'm guessing that if there had never been a Viet Nam War that most Americans would not know where Viet Nam was even located on a world map. The same probably holds true for Bosnia and Somalia, where the U.S. sent troops during the Clinton administration, or Kuwait in Desert Storm.
It's interesting how Asian immigrants have played a role in U.S. history for more than 150 years, but that even though living within our borders there seems to be little awareness of their history, or how that history became intertwined with ours.
All these thoughts came to mind when I received an invitation to a reading by the poet Bao Phi here in Duluth next Saturday evening at the PROVE.
I asked Kathleen Roberts to share a little background on how she first became aware of his writings and how this event came about.
Kathleen Roberts: I'm not sure the first time that I ran across Phi's work, but I have been aware of him for at least the last 8-10 years, since college. It might have been in poetry class? At any rate, I can tell you that the poetry series selects poets using a system in which each board member selects three poets with new books forthcoming, and we vote as a group to determine which writers will be featured that season. The evening will be a pretty straight poetry reading, with Phi as the sole reader. It starts at 7:30, and I would estimate it will be 45-60 minutes long. The selections will probably be from periods throughout his writing career, but will focus on poems from his new collection.
Follow this link to read an interview with the Bao Phi that appeared on National Public Radio.
Read a piece by the author titled Sirenum Scopuli.
His first book was titled Song I Sing (2011). His two new books are called Thousand Star Hotel and A Different Pond.
* * * *
It's interesting how Asian immigrants have played a role in U.S. history for more than 150 years, but that even though living within our borders there seems to be little awareness of their history, or how that history became intertwined with ours.
All these thoughts came to mind when I received an invitation to a reading by the poet Bao Phi here in Duluth next Saturday evening at the PROVE.
I asked Kathleen Roberts to share a little background on how she first became aware of his writings and how this event came about.
Kathleen Roberts: I'm not sure the first time that I ran across Phi's work, but I have been aware of him for at least the last 8-10 years, since college. It might have been in poetry class? At any rate, I can tell you that the poetry series selects poets using a system in which each board member selects three poets with new books forthcoming, and we vote as a group to determine which writers will be featured that season. The evening will be a pretty straight poetry reading, with Phi as the sole reader. It starts at 7:30, and I would estimate it will be 45-60 minutes long. The selections will probably be from periods throughout his writing career, but will focus on poems from his new collection.
Follow this link to read an interview with the Bao Phi that appeared on National Public Radio.
Read a piece by the author titled Sirenum Scopuli.
His first book was titled Song I Sing (2011). His two new books are called Thousand Star Hotel and A Different Pond.
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