There is a certain catalyzing style that comes of utter fearlessness, and the poet Bao Phi has cornered it with his debut poetry collection, Sông I Sing.

Jane Y. Kim, Hyphen magazine

Read the full review here.

I’ve been honored with another wonderful review, from the good people at the Asian American magazine Hyphen. Read it here

Also a good mention of the book at Publisher’s Weekly. Congrats to Coffee House Press! Here Thank you all for supporting the book – the sales number is ridiculous, and a wonderful surprise.

Then, last but not least, we’ve made two “best of 2011″ lists. One by O.G. Asian American journalist and blogger Jeff Yang here.

And the interview of me by Kim-An Lieberman for diaCRTICS made it onto editor Viet Nguyen’s top posts of 2011 here.

Thanks to everyone for the amazing level of support. Peace.

In this strong and angry work of what he calls refugeography, Bao Phi, who has been a performance poet since 1991, wrestles with immigration, class and race in America at sidewalk level… on this song of his very American self, every poem Mr. Phi writes rhymes with the truth.

read the full New York Times review here.

Dana Jennings, the New York Times

Bao Phi’s words are undeniably politically brave and brutally honest—a rarity of a voice much needed.

Ly Vũ Hoàng, Pacific Reader Journal Review

George Uba reads the tribalism, in discursive Asian American poetry, as an ethnographic signifier of resistance to an oppressive and dominant culture, as anti-assimilationist, as privileging the oral over the written, and as more embracing of the polemic than the poetic—all descriptors that resonate through Bao Phi’s poetry…

Professor Greg Choy, Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley
Read the full review here.

First off, a very talented fellow Vietnamese American artist and community organizer whom I have a lot of respect for, and whom I am lucky to call friend, Sahra Nguyen.

Also Kevin Ost-Vollmers was kind enough to devote some space to an interview with me on his awesome blog, Land of a Gazillion Adoptees.

And last but not least, Dr. Ravi Chandra, a fine poet who recently released a dope chapbook himself, wrote about my book on Psychology Today’s website, of all places! Hey, I’m just glad that it’s a positive review of my book on there by brother Ravi, and not an analysis of my psyche.

Bao Phi’s long-awaited debut collection Sông I Sing brings poetry back to the people like nothing else I’ve seen in Vietnamese American culture.

Julie Thi Underhill
Read the full review by Julie Thi Underhill here.

If you have been lucky enough to attend one of Bao Phi’s dynamic spoken-word performances, then you know why his new book Sông I Sing, just released from Coffee House Press, belongs at the top of your must-read list. Slam champion, community activist, HBO Def Poetry Jam alum, Associate Program Director at The Loft Literary Center, and self-proclaimed “geek of color,” Phi writes with a clear sense of purpose. His poems rail against racism, sexism, homophobia, prejudice, and ignorance of every shade – with urgent emotion and no-holds-barred language – all while radiating love and gratitude for the rich spectrum of Vietnamese American and Asian American experiences.

Also, big ups to Antonio Rosario for the audio recording.

If you see Bao Phi coming, you better do a gut check, and set your motherboard to receive. Anyone who has been lucky enough to experience his work knows he means to re-adjust our minds, unseat our comfortable assumptions, and teach our hearts to weep and sing. He is our grief-stricken brother howling, moaning, and wailing in remembrance of those who suffer because of inadequate representation.  He is our ecstatic shaman, manifesting through his work the oldest sources of passion, imagination, and cosmic joy. Sông I Sing is a gift. Thank you, Bao Phi.

- Li-Young Lee

Saturday, September 24, 2011
8:00pm – 10:00pm
Minneapolis Central Library
300 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN

Free and open to the public.
Seating is first come, first served.
Doors open at 45 minutes in advance of program with a book sale and wine reception. Book signing and desserts follows program.

Celebrate the launch of new poetry collections by Ed Bok Lee and Bao Phi, two of the Twin Cities’ most dynamic poets on the national Asian American literary and spoken word scene. In “Whorled,” Ed Bok Lee looks toward a global future, one where the dividing lines between state, religion, race, history, and culture have been blurred to the extent that the very idea of difference requires a new understanding. In Bao Phi’s “Sông I Sing,” the Twin Cities provides the backdrop to a rhythmic exploration of the contradictions of race and class in America. Emceed by multidisciplinary artist and spoken word performer Shá Cage, the program will feature a performance and conversation by the poets and music by DJ Nak.

• rsvp and see who’s coming: here
• more info: www.supporthclib.org or 612-543-8107

Co-sponsored by Coffee House Press, Graywolf Press, Milkweed Editions, and Magers and Quinn Booksellers.

Local presses and the public library have always had a shared mission to inform and inspire people to read. As collaborative crusaders in nurturing and celebrating the written word, it seemed only logical that we join together to promote the literary arts.