Kongkeo Saycocie has written for years and has an impressive body of poems, short stories and a novel he's been working on. Definitely a Lao American writer to examine, with a unique perspective and high level of craft to his work.
There's great humanity and personality to his poems and his desire to share his perspective with others. I would look at That Spirit and Now We Are No More to get a sense of his style. He has moments of excessive sentimentality, but given the deep personal meaning of the subjects to him, I think this can be forgiven.
His poetry is deeply concerned with the history and meaning of the Lao identity. I consider him essential reading for his generation. Like many, he was involved with the SatJaDham Lao literary project of the 1990s and other efforts. As is often the case with Lao American writers, much of his work is apparently uncollected but he shares much of it for free on his personal website and through a few community publications and journals.
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