Join us as Minnesota writers Bao Phi and Sequoia Nagamatsu read from their work and discuss what "sacred spaces" means in terms of the Twin Cities. 

‌A two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist, Bao Phi has appeared on HBO Presents Russell Simmons Def Poetry, featured in the live performances and taping of the blockbuster diasporic Vietnamese variety show Paris By Night 114: Tôi Là Người Việt Nam, and a poem of his appeared in the 2006 Best American Poetry anthology. His poems and essays are widely published in numerous publications including Screaming Monkeys and Spoken Word Revolution Redux. His first collection of poetry, Sông I Sing, published by Coffee House Press, was met with strong sales, is taught in classrooms across the United States, and enjoyed rave reviews, including the New York Times, which stated “In this song of his very American self, every poem Mr. Phi writes rhymes with the truth.” In 2012, the Star Tribune’s inaugural Best of Minnesota issue named Bao Phi as Best Spoken Word Artist. He has also been named a City Pages and Urban Griotsartist of the year and event producer of the year. 

Sequoia Nagamatsu is the author of the short story collection, Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone (Black Lawrence Press). His work has appeared or is forthcoming in publications such as Conjunctions, ZYZZYVA, The Fairy Tale Review, Tin House, Black Warrior Review, Redivider, The Bellevue Literary Review, Lightspeed Magazine, and One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories, among others. Originally from Hawaii and the San Francisco Bay Area, he was educated at Grinnell College and Southern Illinois University. He is the managing editor of Psychopomp Magazine, an online quarterly dedicated to innovative prose, and an assistant professor of creative writing at St. Olaf College. He resides in Minnesota with his wife and a cat.