Interviewed at Speculate SF!

This week, an interview with the awesome Nancy Hightower and I went live (or possibly undead) over at Speculate SF! 

Be sure to tune in for a discussion on "the unique appeal of poetry, how so much of speculative fiction poetry touches on the dark, grotesque and macabre, and what’s changed (and is still changing) in the field..." And other surprises!

Nancy Hightower is an author and poet, as well as an art critic and fiction reviewer who currently writes for The Washington Post. Her debut epic fantasy novel, Elementarí Rising, was published in September 2013 with Pink Narcissus Press and received a starred review from Library Journal. She has co-authored, along with Carrie Ann Baade, the Cute and Creepy exhibition catalogue, an art book of contemporary macabre and surrealist works. You can visit her online at: http://www.nancyhightower.com/

Also, consider donating to the Speculate SF Patreon to keep them going! They're doing great and amazing work and it would be wonderful to get them the resources they deserve.

Souvankham Thammavongsa shortlisted for the Commonwealth

BIG NEWS from Lao Canadian writer Souvankham Thammavongsa, who will be joining us for the very first time at the National Lao American Symposium and Writers Summit.

Her short story "How to Pronounce Knife" was just shortlisted for the prestigious Commonwealth Prize. This is a wonderful milestone for the Lao community, and I hope it encourages many others to take up the pen.

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"40 American Years" Up at 40 & Forward

As mentioned earlier, a new haiku and photo of mine have been accepted for the 40 & Forward: Southeast Asian Americans Rooted & Rising blog organized by the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center in Washington D.C. It's now up, and I'm delighted to know that I was selected as the inaugural entry of this wonderful project.

I strongly encourage others to share their stories, photos, poems and memories with this project as we mark 40 years of the Southeast Asian Diaspora. The Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) is a national organization that advances the interests of Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans by empowering communities through advocacy, leadership development, and capacity building to create a socially just and equitable society. I look forward to seeing the other entries the post at 40 & Forward in the coming year ahead.

Two poems to be reprinted this Fall!

Just agreed to have two classic poems of mine, "E Pluribus Unum" and "Golden Triangle, Holy Mountain" to be reprinted in a forthcoming academic anthology on Asian America from Yale University Press. That's a good thing to wake up to. More details to follow as we get closer to the publication date.

CURA ANPI grant awarded in Minneapolis!

For some good news this week: We just received a grant from the University of Minnesota's CURA ANPI program  to work with The Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota to develop a cohort of storytellers in North Minneapolis.

The aim is to effectively grow their neighborhood memory while finding innovative ways to share and express that journey. We will do the majority of their work at the Harrison Community Center where our community feels most connected over the last ten years to Lao Assistance Center services. The core constituents are Lao American refugee families historically been underserved by the arts.

The Lao Assistance Center has served refugees for 30 years in Minnesota. This year is particularly significant because 2015 marks the 40th year since the beginning of the Lao Diaspora. Minnesota has the third largest Lao population in the US.

Among the outcomes they hope to achieve will be a regular live reading/presentation of various community stories, a small publication and online gallery, videos and other interconnected arts media in response to the stories that emerge. A key part of the process is asking the participants to work with the artist to really examine what Lao values were, are, and should be in coming decades ahead. They will also plan to have a monthly workshop series. They have selected 9 topics covering many parts of the Lao Minnesotan journey in North Minneapolis they hope to see developed.

National Lao American Symposium and Writers Summit comes to Minneapolis

In April, over 100 Lao American scholars, artists and community builders will gather in Minneapolis for the first National Lao American Symposium and Writers Summit to reflect on 40 years of Lao American experiences. The theme is "Our Shared Journey: A Symposium On 40 Years Of The Lao In The United States." This event is led by a partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center and the Lao American Writers Summit.

Minnesota has the third largest Lao refugee population in the United States after California and Texas. An estimated 12,000 Lao are rebuilding their lives across Minnesota today.

The state has been host to numerous events of historic importance to the Lao American community over the years, including the first National Lao American Writers Summit, the Legacies of War: Refugee Nation Twin Cities exhibit, Little Laos on the Prairie’s Refuge of the InvisibLao exhibit and many others. This year the SatJaDham Lao Literary Project is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

1975 marked the formal end of the Laotian Civil War. The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under the pretext of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), recruited and trained irregular paramilitary forces operating within the Royal Lao Armed Forces.

The aerial campaign and carpet-bombing conducted by the United States resulted in more than two million tons of bombs dropped on Laos from 1964 to 1974, making Laos the most bombed country per capita in history. The conflict ultimately led to the displacement over 700,000 refugees around the world, including 400,000 resettled in the United States.

During the course of the Symposium, noted scholars and community builders from across the US will share their perspectives on the Lao journey and how the culture has changed over the years, and what it has preserved.

The keynote speaker is Dr. Phitsamay Sychitkokhong Uy, an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. There will be significant discussions about the power and pitfalls of storytelling and contemporary efforts to tell the Lao American story, particularly in the digital age.

The symposium will be held April 17-18th, 2015 at University of Minnesota’s Urban Research and Outreach Center (UROC) located at 2001 Plymouth Ave North, Minneapolis, MN 55411. It is free and open to the public, but space is limited and participants are asked to register at: http://z.umn.edu/Lao40.

The symposium will include panels, workshops, performances and light food. There will be a public reception on Saturday, April 18th at Co Exhibitions located at 1101 Stinson Blvd NE #2, Minneapolis from 6:00-8:00pm.

Brookdale Library to host Laotian diaspora exhibit

The Sun-Post has a nice article on the "Refuge of the InvisibLao" exhibit that will be opening at the Brookdale Library from April 3rd to May 31st. It will be held in Minnesota, and is organized by Chanida Phaengdara Potter and the Lao Diaspora project.

Hopefully many of the participants in the National Lao American Symposium and Writers Summit will be able to visit this exhibit when it takes place. It's an inspiring collection of rare photographs, artistic responses, poetry, oral and visual histories connected to the journey of Lao Americans over the last 40 years since the end of the conflicts in Southeast Asia.

Chantala Kommanivanh provides many examples of artwork inspired by the stories of his fellow Lao refugees. He'll also be visiting Minnesota again in April to discuss his process and other ideas of where he hopes to go next with his art.

Be sure to check out the article and leave some comments on what you've liked about the exhibit and what you'd like to see more of in the future!

Reading with Brandy Lien Worrall on April 27th in Madison, Wisconsin!

Watch out, Madison! I'll be reading on April 27th with Brandy Lien Worrall at the Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative from our latest books. From Agent Orange and Ghosts to the Vietnam War, Laos, HAPA and Adoptees, Canada, and Questionable Identities, this will be a reading to remember!
More details will come soon!

 

[Poem] Laomigration Haiku, 2557

Begin in one place,
End up in quite another.
Alien Nation.

[Poem] Laopocalypse Haikus, 3/16/2557

Imagine the end:
A moon eaten by the frog,
Night fills with terror.

Return, a horror.
You come back again, once more.
Every inch screams.

Phi Kongkoi Planet!
Surrounded, you are the prey.
No escape, this time.

Among the ruins,
A woman, a monk with vows.
How will life go next?

You loathe my questions,
Forbidding us a future,
Found unprepared.

Children as strangers,
You spoke only of the past,
Not what to dream of.

Laopocalypse looms.
Where is our "Sabaidee" now,
To face a hard day?

Featured at Asians Doing Everything

This week I was featured over at Asians Doing Everything. I appreciate the shoutout, and I encourage others to share their stories with the community. This looks like a promising project and I look forward to seeing the other entries as they get posted.

The creators explain: "Asians Doing Everything recognizes and celebrates the work being done by Asians and Pacific Islanders around the world. We transcend the roles often given to us by popular media; we're not just doctors, sidekicks, and nail salon owners...although we are those too. We pursue an infinite variety of jobs. But we are also passionate about things not connected to a paycheck. This blog seeks to uncover how we operate as striking, multifaceted, and global movers and shakers within our communities and economies."

But what's your story?

40 & Forward: Southeast Asian Americans Rooted & Rising

A new haiku and photo of mine have been accepted for the 40 & Forward: Southeast Asian Americans Rooted & Rising blog organized by the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center in Washington D.C. It will be appearing later this year. 

I strongly encourage others to share their stories, photos, poems and memories with this project as we mark 40 years of the Southeast Asian Diaspora. The Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) is a national organization that advances the interests of Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans by empowering communities through advocacy, leadership development, and capacity building to create a socially just and equitable society.

I first encountered SEARAC in the 1990s when I was working for Hmong National Development and they've been strong and amazing advocates for the Southeast Asian American community and their friends and families for years. I look forward to seeing the other entries the post at 40 & Forward in the coming year ahead.

Roundabout To Nirvana

Can't believe no one's brought this up yet.

Lao Science Fiction On the Rise

The Twin Cities Daily Planet has a nice article, "Lao Science Fiction On the Rise" by M.K. Khamchanh that took a good look at the various Lao science fiction writers currently active in our community. But above all else I hope it encourages emerging writers to step forward and write to the limits of their imagination.

[Poem] Narcissus of Vientiane, 5225

image by Romain Chauvet

“I do not paint a portrait to look like the subject, rather does the person grow to look like his portrait.”- Salvador Dali

Here, observe:
Betrayal is common currency,
Pursuing truths going rightfully extinct.

Preserving your memories
As if they are celestial jewels,
Only the false seem authentic
Among modern souls, a liability
Between these circuits and glass
We mistake for meaningful eyes
Caked with detritus
After so many stellar centuries.

To remember invites accusation
By which your children prosper.
Loyalty is a labyrinth with many ends.

We have become gilt eidolons
Marching towards our disintegration.
Our furnaces are our future.

Flee as you will, innocent as you believe,
Judgement is passed, if not for this lifetime
Than your next, in the absence of evidence,
Or incriminating coincidence.
Enormous justice, worth enormous expense.

Returning, just to hear
A sincere sabaidee

She welcomes us in the salon
Of her heart, one day a mother
Dreaming of the devouring.
Her devoted children cannot
Subsist on baubles of mere fact,
Appraising her for a plausible rumor,
A good night’s sleep.