ÁCCENTED #35 | Memory as Rebellion: Showcasing Lao American Artists
DVAN presents another exciting episode of Áccented: Dialogues in Diaspora. Our 35th show, “Memory as Rebellion: Showcasing Lao American Artists,” features Lao American artists Krysada Phounsiri and Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay in conversation with Pulitzer Prize winning host Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen.
ABOUT THE GUESTS
KRYSADA PHOUNSIRI is a Lao American award winning poet, professional dancer, optical engineer, and photographer. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a Physics & Astrophysics double major. He minored in Creative Writing with a focus on poetry. His poetry has been featured in various publications like the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education, SEARAC 40 & Forward, and San Diego Poetry Together anthology. He has authored two poetry books: “Dance Among Elephants,” released in April 2015, which takes readers on a profound journey of identity, family, homeland, love, and dance, and “Every Passing Minute,” released in November 2020, continuing the exploration of themes from his first book.
SAYMOUKDA DUANGPHOUXAY VONGSAY is a Lao American poet and playwright. CNN’s “United Shades of America” host W. Kamau Bell called her work “revolutionary.” She is the author of the children’s book When Everything Was Everything (Full Circle Publishing 2018) and is best known for her Kung Fu Zombies play cycle. Her work has been presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Theater Mu, Walking Shadow Theatre Company, and elsewhere. She’s currently living large thanks to grants from the MN State Arts Board and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, as well as fellowships from the Bush Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and the Center for Cultural Power this year. She’s a recent writer in residence at Hedgebrook and at Djerassi by invitation of the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network.
ABOUT THE HOSTS
VIET THANH NGUYEN‘s novel The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and numerous other awards. His most recent publication is A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial. His other books are the sequel to The Sympathizer, The Committed; a short story collection, The Refugees; Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction); and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. He has also published Chicken of the Sea, a children’s book written in collaboration with his son, Ellison. He is a University Professor at the University of Southern California. A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, he is also the editor of The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives.
PHILIP NGUYEN is the emcee for ÁCCENTED: Dialogues in Diaspora presented by the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN). He teaches Asian American Studies in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, and is the Executive Director for the Vietnamese American Roundtable, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in California’s South Bay Area. Philip has formerly served as the President of the Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (UNAVSA) and as the Co-Chair of the Young Vietnamese Americans (YVA) Committee for PIVOT – The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization.
DETAILS
Thursday, February 22, 2024 | 6:00 PM PST
Event is FREE | Virtual | All ticket holders will receive a special Zoom webinar invitation 24 hours prior to the show. One ticket per person, per email.
