Poet Bao Phi talks to 10th graders about writing, racism, American society

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Bobby Verhey

Bao Phi, an Asian American poet, talked about his poetry collection, Thousand Star Hotel.

Bobby Verhey, RubicOnline Editor

During this past Wednesday’s X-Period, Asian American poet Bao Phi came to speak to 10th graders in the Bigelow Commons. American Literature students have been reading Phi’s book, “Thousand Star Hotel,” which is a collection of poems regarding race, fatherhood, and American society as a whole.

Phi read multiple poems from “Thousand Star Hotel,” and some of his other favorites. The session ended with a long Q&A session in which students could get their questions about the poem, and Phi’s life in general, answered.

When Phi was very young, his family immigrated from Vietnam to America. He said, “My parents don’t really have an avenue to defend themselves, so I feel like I have a certain level of responsibility when I write poems about my family.”

Throughout the session, Phi talked about the importance of his daughter on his writing. “My first book contained almost all persona poems. Once I had a child, the poems became much more personal […] now, when my daughter is older she can read about her family’s experiences.”

“When she asked me to read my book to her class, that moment is why I write,” he said.

Bobby Verhey
Sophomore Liam Lynch gets his copy of “Thousand Star Hotel” signed by Bao Phi

Many 10th graders enjoyed the presentation; Sophomore Alek Radsan said, “I really found him engaging and quite moving. We’ve been reading his books for the past couple of weeks so it was really cool to see him in person. My favorite part of the assembly was the Q&A session as it allowed us to see his thinking behind the writing.”

After the session, Phi signed books for the sophomores in attendance.

Sophomore Saffy Rindelaub said, “I really enjoyed his presentation I liked his sense of humor and how he incorporated it into his poems. He seems like a genuine person.”