Refugee Requiem: Bao Phi, Patrick Rosal, and Sokunthary Svay

Presented by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Cosponsored by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU.

Poets Patrick Rosal, Bao Phi, and Sokunthary Svay confront nationalist mythology with lyrical odes about the United States we struggle against, and the one being built through struggle. Patrick Rosal—who the Academy of American Poets honored for writing the best book of poetry of the year—uncovers forgotten multi-racial histories through his family’s journey from the Philippines to Brooklyn. Bao Phi and Sokunthary Svay trace their respective arrivals as refugees to Minneapolis and the Bronx. All three speak into existence defiant new American imaginaries, inspired by hip hop and the invisibilized Asian American urban poor.

RSVP