Saymoukda Vongsay

Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay is the Lao American author of No Regrets, a collection of poetry and haikus published by Baby Rabbit Publishing in 2007.

Her award-winning work has been published by Altra Magazine, the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement, and Bakka Literary Journal. She is a recipient of the 2010 Carey Prize in Spoken Word Poetry.

A Minnesota-based spoken word poet, she has performed and taught creative writing workshops nationally across the United States and internationally in Italy and Japan. She has worked with the Anchorage Urban League of Young Professionals lecturing and performing at the university-level and local high schools to urge voter registration and civic engagement and also served as liaison between local government and the Southeast Asian community regarding public policy in Alaska.

She was a featured artist for the Sulu Series in Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York, a three-city monthly showcase of emerging and established Asian American artists, founded by Taiyo Na.

In her decade of experience as a spoken word poet, she has grown tremendously by learning from and having shared the stage with Danny Solis, Laura Piece Kelley, Blitz the Ambassador, Doomtree, Bao Phi, David Mura, Kelly Tsai, Regie Cabico, Yellow Rage, Ed Bok Lee, and Stacey Ann Chin, among others.

Vongsay is a co-founding member of The Unit, a collective of emerging playwrights. Her short plays are frequently staged at The Minnesota Playwrights’ Center. Her piece, Yellowtail Sashimi, was part of the 2010 MN Fringe Festival. Other notable readings she has organized include Lao'd and Clear (2004) at the Loft Literary Center and Operation: Gynocracy [1] at the Black Dog Cafe (2010).

She was a co-chair of the first Lao American Writers Summit in Minnesota in 2010 and works actively to support the work of Lao women writers and artists across the country to celebrate heritage, diversity and community development. Vongsay was an Advisory Board member of the 2010 Asian Film Festival, the first of its kind in the Twin Cities presented by The Film Society/Minnesota Film Arts.[2]

In 2011 she joined the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans as the Cultural Coordinator and will oversee funding from the 2008 Legacy Act to benefit Asian Pacific cultural initiatives in the state.[3]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ "Operation Gynocracy". Asian American Press. 24 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Saymoukda Vongsay". Official website. 1 December 2010.
  3. ↑ "Hello world!". Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans Blog. 10 January 2011.
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