#Poetry

"The Sea That Beckoned" by Filipina Poet Angela Gabrielle Fabunan

Keana A. Labra

Nov 27, 2019

"The Sea That Beckoned" by Filipina Poet Angela Gabrielle Fabunan

Immigration is now a controversial topic, whether it’s regarding the legality to which groups are “allowed” or “welcome.” The Sea That Beckoned by poet Angela Gabrielle Fabunan illustrates her personal experience immigrating from the Philippines to New York, USA as she learns more about her new culture and herself as well. Sharing this narrative is vital in illustrating this particular struggle to anti-immigration audiences, especially when so much time and sacrifice is asked

Chrysanthemum Tran, Vietnamese American poet. The First Trans Woman Finalist of the Women of the 20

Keana A. Labra

Aug 22, 2019

Chrysanthemum Tran, Vietnamese American poet. The First Trans Woman Finalist of the Women of the 20

When writers of color share their work, their ethnic background is often taken into consideration; however, individuals are complex and contain a myriad of experiences and identities outside of their ethnicity. Chrysanthemum Tran is a Vietnamese American poet and the first trans woman finalist of the Women of the 2016 World Poetry Slam. Tran is a voice for both the trans and Vietnamese American community, and she is a vital representative for Vietnamese American transgender f

Podcast Episode 8: An Interview With Spoken Word Poet Kristina Robertson

Chopsticks Alley

Jun 20, 2019

Podcast Episode 8: An Interview With Spoken Word Poet Kristina Robertson

Chopsticks Alley Podcast Episode 8: An Interview With Spoken Word Poet Kristina Robertson Hosts: Jennifer Tran & Trami Cron Sponsor: Thomas Vo Farmers Agency Producer: Chopsticks Alley Guest: Kristina Robertson Edited by: Jennifer Tran For more content from Chopsticks Alley, like and follow us on: Live Feeds – facebook.com/chopsticksalley Articles – www.chopsticksalley.com More Art - www.ChopsticksAlleyArt.org Instagram & Twitter - @chopsticksalley @chopsticksalleyart To T

A Tết One Cannot Forget, A Poem About Vietnamese Refugees and Our Resilience on the Island of Pilau

Nguyễn Bá Trạc

Jan 27, 2019

A Tết One Cannot Forget, A Poem About Vietnamese Refugees and Our Resilience on the Island of Pilau

Here are some photos I have kept for more than thirty years. Taken on the island of Pulau Bidong, Malaysia, the photos show Vietnamese refugees on the first day of the Lunar New Year (February 17, 1988). It was on this island that more than 300,000 people landed after escaping the nightmares of crossing the sea: On their journeys, they faced being detained, extorted, robbed, arrested, and shot at by the Viet Cong, and robbery and rape at the hands of Thai pirates. They suffe

Requiem for the Orchard & My American Kundiman: Western Art Was Believed to Be Inherently More “

Keana A. Labra

Jan 27, 2019

Requiem for the Orchard & My American Kundiman: Western Art Was Believed to Be Inherently More “

From my experience in both high school and college, the literary material offered by almost all my English literature classes was curated from works written by poets and authors from the Western world and white backgrounds. There remains an assumption that Western art in general is inherently more “educated” and “intelligent”, but that is evolving towards a more inclusive collection of work from writers of color. We seek a reflection of ourselves in fiction, and I was dreadin

Vietnamese American Poets: Identity as the Core of Their Poetry

Keana A. Labra

Nov 20, 2018

Vietnamese American Poets: Identity as the Core of Their Poetry

The success of blockbuster movies, such as “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” with its accurate and holistic representation of people of color, is inspiring a movement among youths, many of whom are actively voicing their support for representation in all media on all kinds of social media platforms. Poetry, as a medium, may not be at the forefront of this movement; however, readers of poetry also vie for representation, as literature in academia is often curated with w

Nguyen Du's the Tale of Kiều, an Epic Poem: Challenging the Female Gender Role in the Vietnamese

Rachel Egoian

Jul 31, 2018

Nguyen Du's the Tale of Kiều, an Epic Poem: Challenging the Female Gender Role in the Vietnamese

Many Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans are quite familiar with Vietnam’s literary classic, The Tale of Kiều by Nguyễn Du (1766–1820) in which the long narrative or epic poem has been shared throughout Vietnamese oral tradition. In many traditional oral stories, the narratives are told to teach morals and values depending on your culture and religion. In my experience with German folklore and epic poems of the British and English literary canon, it is alarming to note that t

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong, Vietnamese Poet Receives TS Eliot Prize; Exploring Life&#

Rachel Egoian

Mar 17, 2018

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong, Vietnamese Poet Receives TS Eliot Prize; Exploring Life&#

A Vietnamese American poet, Ocean Vương’s phenomenal achievement of winning the Forward prize, Whiting award, and the Thom Gunn award, including his recent accomplishment TS Eliot prize from his work Night Sky with Exit Wounds, has brought tremendous praise and attention from local and global audiences. He composes his collection of poems by stringing along heavy symbolic imagery of color, the body, nature, and violence to connect and convey the themes of family, love, memory

Chữ Nôm and Hồ Xuân Hương: Unraveling the Complexity of the Former Vietnamese Written Language and t

Rachel Egoian

Mar 11, 2018

Chữ Nôm and Hồ Xuân Hương: Unraveling the Complexity of the Former Vietnamese Written Language and t

When we think of language and its written form, it goes through many changes and processes over time due to societal pressures of colonialism and imperialism. Language works as a marker to transcend its origin point and becomes a symbolic meaning to change with purpose to further explore hidden aspects of culture and identity. Coincidently, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a story about an artist’s revival of the extinct Filipino writing calligraphy known as Baybayin. T

True Translation of Poetry is Not Possible; There’s Only a Kind of Imitation - Lê Phạm Lê's From

Rachel Egoian

Aug 10, 2017

True Translation of Poetry is Not Possible; There’s Only a Kind of Imitation - Lê Phạm Lê's From

As someone who is coming from a mixed ethnic background, my aspiration for diversity through culture and community shapes my appreciation for Asian literature. When given the opportunity to analyze and study Vietnamese literature, I became fully aware that this is an avenue for Asian literature that will provide a diverse lens as a way of looking closely at an immigrant’s journey. My Armenian and Filipino ancestors that also migrated to America to Hawaii, Ellis Island, and Po

Quyen Ngo

May 1, 2017

Ma’s Got a Lullaby For You, Baby

This edited article is from Loa, an independent news website and podcast broadcasting stories about Vietnam, and is republished on Chopsticks Alley as part of a content-sharing agreement. By Giang Nguyễn Published November 2, 2015; Clicke Here to Listen: Episode 28 Gió mùa thu mẹ ru mà con ngủ Năm (ơ) canh chày, năm (ơ) canh chày, thức đủ vừa năm Hỡi chàng chàng ơi, hỡi người người ơi Em nhớ tới chàng, em nhớ tới chàng Hãy nín nín đi con, hãy ngủ ngủ đi con Con hời mà con hỡi

Some Things Can't Be Translated From Vietnamese to English: "Ode to Bánh Mì"

Trami Nguyen Cron

Nov 21, 2016

Some Things Can't Be Translated From Vietnamese to English: "Ode to Bánh Mì"

I find the English language has some shortcomings compared to my mother tongue. Perhaps my English vocabulary is lacking, or I'm simply not a poet. But often times, I find myself unable to find appropriate translations from Vietnamese to English that truly completes the depth of the intended meaning of phrases or words. This struggle is also discussed in depth by Vuong Vu's article A Tale of Three Translations in Poetry. Here is my first attempt at writing a simple piece o

A Song for Autumn: Lý Cây Đa by Phạm Duy (Ode to the Banyan Tree)

Vuong Vu

Oct 20, 2016

A Song for Autumn: Lý Cây Đa by Phạm Duy (Ode to the Banyan Tree)

Second generation Vietnamese Americans may not be familiar with a song called Lý Cây Đa, but if we ask our parents about it, not only will t

An Ocean of Darkness: A Review of Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky With Exit Wounds

Vuong Vu

Oct 9, 2016

An Ocean of Darkness: A Review of Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky With Exit Wounds

Ocean Vuong’s poetry collection, Night Sky With Exit Wounds (Copper Canyon Press 2016), is the most beautifully written book I have read in a long time. It’s a masterpiece. As someone who writes, edits, and publishes poetry—for whom it is Body and Blood—I don’t say that lightly. Poetry such as Vuong’s is so generous in craft and heart it makes me grateful and inspired, which is why I’m almost apologetic for what I have to say next. For a poetry collection so exquisitely reali

A Tale of Three Translations in Vietnamese Poetry

Vuong Vu

Oct 3, 2016

A Tale of Three Translations in Vietnamese Poetry

How is a poem transformed through translation? What is lost, and what remains true to the original? Vietnamese is a strongly idiomatic language, which makes it notoriously difficult to translate. There are expressions so unique to the Vietnamese experience that they cannot be fully translated into another language. How would one, for example, translate the expression khỉ ho cò gáy? (We’ll get back to this in a bit.) The poems of Hồ Xuân Hương are perfect for examining this qu

Vuong Vu

Sep 23, 2016

Writing Poetry in Vietnamese

One of my great regrets in life is I never learned to write in Vietnamese. I’ve always thought that speaking it was enough—as in, it made me Vietnamese enough. But I wholeheartedly believe that every person of Vietnamese origin should know the language. Vietnamese carries the history, the struggles, and triumphs of our people; it keeps our culture and heritage alive. It sets our stories apart from the stories of other people in this world. It is the language of our soul, a

Call for Poetry Submissions to Perfume River Poetry Review - Submissions due by December 31, 2016

Vuong Vu

Sep 1, 2016

Call for Poetry Submissions to Perfume River Poetry Review - Submissions due by December 31, 2016

On my tombstone, I would like the following words: Vuong Vu was a publisher of poetry. I’m not even joking. Since 2012, I have published books and a literary journal, Perfume River Poetry Review, through my label Tourane Poetry Press. It may sound glamorous, but the truth is that Tourane Poetry Press is a small, one-man, self-financed endeavor. I don’t make a dime or đồng, and I lose a wealth of sleep. Small press is a rough business to be in, but starting Tourane Poetry

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