- Bao Phi
Bao Phi, AKA Thien-Bao Phi, a Vietnamese American spoken word artist, writer and community activist living in Minnesota.
Thien-Bao Phi was born in Sai Gon, Viet Nam, the youngest son to two mixed blood Chinese and Vietnamese parents who raised him in the Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis.
A graduate of
Macalester College and retired pizza delivery boy, Bao Phi has performed at numerous venues and schools locally and nationally, from the Nuyorican Poet's Café to theUniversity of California, Berkeley .Phi has twice won the Minnesota Grand Poetry Slam, and also won two poetry slams at the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York.
He remains the only Vietnamese American man to have appeared on HBO's
Russell Simmons PresentsDef Poetry , and the National Poetry Slam Individual Finalists Stage, where he placed 6th overall out of over 250 national slam poets.Bao Phi's vision is to offer an alternative perspective on Asian American community building through the arts. He has been a featured artist in many community events, rallies and functions, including an event to raise awareness and funds for inmates
Eddie Zheng andViet Ngo , who are working in the California penal system to create an Asian American studies program for incarcerated inmates.Phi has taught workshops and performed for youth for organizations from the W.O.C. in Minneapolis to the Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco. He was an advisory panel member, workshop moderator, and performer for Intimacy and Geography, the Asian American Writers' Workshop national poetry festival in New York.
He is also published in various literary magazines, journals, and anthologies, including From Both Sides Now,the Def Poetry Jam anthology, Legacy to Liberation, Screaming Monkeys, and Michigan Quarterly Review. His poetry is included in the EMC/Paradigm line of English textbooks for High School students, and has done voice work for their educational materials. One of his poems was recently selected to appear in Minneapolis/Saint Paul city buses in the Poetry in Motion program. He is also the author of the
chapbook , Surviving the Translation.Currently he works as a program associate at the Loft where he curates and operates Equilibrium, a successful spoken word series he created, which invites nationally recognized artists of color/indigenous artists to share the stage with local Minnesota artists of color/indigenous artists. In 2005, he released his new CD, Refugeography, and continues to tour around the country.
External links
* [http://www.baophi.com Official Website]
[Category:People from Minnesota]
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