Appointed Honorary Alumni by Otterbein University

 Pleased to announce that I have accepted the 2025 Otterbein Honorary Alumni Award with a presentation ceremony of September 26-27 later this year in Westerville, Ohio for my distinguished contributions over the decades.

I'd first begun attending Otterbein in 1991 until 1997 when financial circumstances and an academic snarl involving an issue over whether or not religion and philosophy courses were part of the same major or not, among other details all led to my departure at the time to begin work on Southeast Asian refugee resettlement issues in Washington DC instead.

"... And the rest is history..." as they say, although it often led to a significant level of disparagement by fellow refugees and non-profit colleagues that frequently bled into a number of my personal relationships. This was even as my work was, and remains, taught in college textbooks and papers around the globe, and I am about to finish nearly 2 decades as the creative works editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement.

It's a nice vindication even I also note that it remains a challenge for so many in our community to attain a degree. 50 years in the US and fewer than 15% of the Lao and many other Southeast Asian refugees manage to successfully graduate college for a number of reasons rarely related to academic performance itself.

There are challenging conversation to be held in the future about this, and how we create successful alternate pathways for our community members to be contributing participants in our various democracies across the globe.

Inducted into the Saline Area Schools Hall of Fame, 2024

My thanks to the Foundation for Saline Area Schools for sharing the recent proceedings of the 2024 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony that honored I and the other recipients in Michigan this month. It was a memorable and energizing ceremony and I look forward to all that is yet ahead for everyone! The Sun Times News covered our induction. Here’s the official video of the ceremony:

While I’m still waiting for a few more official photos from the evening’s proceedings to arrive, here are some from my own collection for the curious. There’s still so much for me to reflect on from that weekend that I’ll share in a late post, but for now, it was wonderful seeing everyone and revisiting so many memories from that journey that began over 3 decades ago.

American Laodyssey coming this Summer

American Laodyssey 4 years after the best-selling Before We Remember We Dream, Sahtu Press is pleased to announce the release of American Laodyssey later this summer marking a collaboration with Lao American poet Bryan Thao Worra and visual artist Bay Koulabdara looking back on the first 50 years of the Lao in the United States. 

This poetry collection contains 55 selections of previously uncollected works and popular poems that have been the subject of academic papers, artistic responses, museum exhibitions, festivals and more. It will also contain a variety of resources for teachers and community builders to share with students and families alike. 

BEFORE WE REMEMBER WE DREAM available now from Sahtu Press

 

My new collection BEFORE WE REMEMBER WE DREAM is available now from Sahtu Press. 

This is my first book in a hard-copy format in 7 years since DEMONSTRA with the Lao American visual artist Vongduane Manivong. 

This new collection features original art by Nor Sanavongsay and blends memoir and Southeast Asian history, myth, horror and science fiction to examine 45 years of the Lao diaspora. It has a cover by the award-winning Lao American artist Sisavanh Phouthavong Houghton.

These 55 poems focus largely on 1973 to the present from the banks of the Mekong River during the Secret War for Laos to unexpected intersections of Southeast Asian history in the small towns of America and Asian American history. Tragedy, humor, memory and dreams collide to provide readers an understanding of what has been, and what might be.