2009 NEA Poetry Fellows

I'm just starting to get a full understanding of all of the great poetry fellows recognized by the NEA.

But, in addition to myself, Jason Koo, a poet and teacher at Davidson College in North Carolina, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil and C. Dale Young are also among the Asian American poets who received fellowships. They were recognized from over 1,000 applications across the country. Minnesotan poet Anna George Meek also received a poetry fellowship. Fellowships last for a year and allow the recipients to carry out individual plans they proposed. 

Hopefully, we'll hear more about each of their plans as the year goes on!

Lol. And how do I feel?

In the News and Blogosphere

On The Other Side Of The Eye is reviewed by Linda Addison in Space and Time Magazine #106:

On The Other Side Of The Eye by Bryan Thao Worra (Sam’s Dot Publishing); an enlightening and whimsical poetry collection that tells the devastating effect of the civil war in Laos, the Kingdom of a Million Elephants, on the human spirit: past, present and future. ‘What Kills A Man’ is a gentle list: Always small things / A round. / Holes…A motion. An emotion. Worra fills these pages with poetic fables using the wonders of Laos myth and world history in the song of aliens, immortality, moon and stars; from “The Deep Ones”: We grow with uncertain immortality/At the edge not made for man.

Hyphen Magazine makes a nice mention of me on their blog, courtesy of Claire Light. 

Write On Radio has an interview with me, along with Todd Boss. I come on around the 30 minute mark.

Twin Cities Daily Planet has an article by Alsion Morse up about Winter Ink and the book release on December 13th at the Open Book (1011 Washington Ave. S, Minneapolis from 6 to 9PM).

Asian American Press covered my NEA Fellowship. There's a brief nod in the Star Tribune.

I mentioned this earlier, but Tales of the Unanticipated #29 also has an interview with me by Catherine Lundhoff, and it's out now.  Boston Progress Radio also a fun feature of me. 

A special shout out to Slant Eye For The Round Eye, The Adventures of Johnny Northside and Intuitive Intertextuality as well. :)

Officially Announcing: I'm an NEA Fellow in Literature

I can now officially say that I have been selected by the National Endowment for the Arts as a 2009 Fellow in Literature for Poetry.

To put it in context, NEA Literature Fellowships are awarded to published creative writers of exceptional talent in the areas of prose and poetry to advance the goal of encouraging and supporting artistic creativity and preserving our diverse cultural heritage.

The NEA was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, and the Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts.

This year, out of over 1,000 applications received from across the country, only 42 were awarded after being judged by 10 of the country's leading poets. The award for poetry comes only once every 2 years.

The award also comes with $25,000 for me to continue my work to study and advance awareness of Laotian American poetry. This is both a great personal victory and a community victory. 

I thank all of you who helped me and stood by me. And to my fellow writers who may find themselves at points of struggle, let me assure you: It's possible. Reach for it. :)

Influences: A Quick List

The other day I ran across a list of influences I cited in the past. Writers and musicians who have been some of the strongest influences on my writing. Today I put together a quick list of some of the pivotal collections of their writing that I particularly enjoy, some assembled by the authors themselves, others, simply collected together well.

• Franz Kafka. The Basic Kafka.
  
• Jorge Luis Borges. Labyrinths. 
  
• Samuel Beckett. Endgame. Worstward Ho. Company. 
  
• H.P. Lovecraft. Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre
• Yusef Komunyakaa. Dien Cai Dau. Talking Dirty to The Gods 
  
• Heather McHugh. Hinge and Sign 
  
• Tadeusz Borowski. This Way for The Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.
  
• Adrienne Su. Middle Kingdom. 
  
• Leonard Cohen. I'm Your Man.  
  
• Tom Waits. Bone Machine. 
  
• Khalil Gibran. The Madman. 
  
• Joseph Campbell. The Power of Myth. 
  
• Hermann Hesse. Siddhartha. Steppenwolfe.
  
• Shuntaro Tanikawa. Selected Poems.
  
• Yevgeny Yevtushenko. The Face Behind The Face.
• Graham Greene. The Captain And The Enemy.
• Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Gift From The Sea.

Of course, there's always many, many more, but these are some that come with my highest recommendations.