Local poet Bao Phi recognized for bringing BIPOC voices into the spotlight

CATHY WURZER: I'd like to introduce you to our next guest. Bao Phi is an acclaimed poet and author who has never forgotten his roots. Last week, he won the prestigious Kay Sexton Minnesota Book Award for his contributions to the literary arts community in Minnesota. He worked at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis for more than two decades, and his leadership opened doors to the literary scene for more than 500 writers and artists, many of whom are people of color.

One of his most successful projects was Equilibrium: A Spoken Word Series that invited nationally recognized BIPOC artists to share the stage with their local counterparts. Bao joins us today. Congratulations. That is a wonderful award.

BAO PHI: Good afternoon, and thank you for having me.

CATHY WURZER: I'm so glad you had the opportunity to join us here. Social justice I know has been the backbone of your work since, oh my gosh, what, early 1990s I think?

BAO PHI: That's right.

CATHY WURZER: Did you get into writing and performance art with that intention?

BAO PHI: You know, a little bit, if I may, I'll talk about my background really briefly because I think that helps paint a picture of how I got here if that's OK. So in the mid '70s, my family were among the first wave of Vietnamese refugees from the war. We basically came from Vietnam in 1975 to the Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis. I was the baby in the family at the time.

And coming from a large poor working class Vietnamese refugee family, I wanted what most kids would want. You know, GI Joes, Transformers, Atari. But since there wasn't a whole lot of money to go around, I always gravitated towards books, right?

And if you know Phillips at all, the Franklin Avenue Library is there. And I being kind of a bookish, nerdy kid, would teach myself to walk to the library back and forth using different routes to avoid bullies and that type of thing. Because books were free, and books were just a really wonderful way for a kid like me to really learn about the world, learn about stories, kind of foster my imagination.

I have roots here in Minnesota. I think the first short story I ever wrote was at Andersen Elementary. You know, first poem I ever wrote, which was really bad, was at Sanford Middle School. And then to answer your question and bring it full circle, the first time I wrote a performance poem, which some now would call spoken word or slam poetry or whatnot, was at South High School in the early '90s when I joined the South High Speech Team.

And I was in a category called creative expression. And we didn't call it a slam. I didn't know it was a slam. But basically, it was a category in speech where you wrote your own material, and you delivered it in front of an audience, and you got scored. And so that was really the beginning.

And at that time, simultaneously, this was 1989 to 1993. And so we're talking about the first Persian Gulf war, the effects of reaganomics, the destruction of the middle class, police brutality, gang warfare, crack cocaine in inner city neighborhoods like mine.

And I'm a Vietnamese refugee kid trying to figure out what do I have to do with any of this? What am I seeing? What does it mean, if that makes any sense.

CATHY WURZER: That's a lot going on. It's a lot going on.

BAO PHI: That's a lot going on for anyone, right? And you add race to that and class to that, and it becomes this big thing. And really, I've always leaned towards the arts. And so it wasn't like I planned it, but it just felt like a confluence of certain things happening at the same time if that answers your question.

CATHY WURZER: It does actually. I'm glad to hear you went to south. It's a place near and dear to my heart obviously. And I can see where you probably really bloomed there given that they had some interesting programs at the time you were there. I'm curious about the diversity of the Minneapolis literary scene since you've gotten into it. I would think it has changed dramatically.

BAO PHI: Oh, absolutely. So you know, like with any with any environment, we have a long way to go. But I would definitely say it does feel different. Certainly different than it was 20 years ago or even 30 years ago when I was getting my start.

Spoken word in particular, I think you have to remember this was before social media and the internet, right? And so there was a lot of chauvinism and certain perceptions of spoken word as an art, right? That I would say still persists to this day, but they were much more flagrant and stronger I would say 20, 25 years ago, right?

And so I really give credit to the Loft Literary Center where I worked because at the time, when I was working there, I was a receptionist, and I got promoted to doing programs. You know, I pitched a spoken word series. And a lot of literary organizations and arts organizations, mainstream ones, would balk at that idea. You know what I mean? But the Loft did not. And the Loft not only did not balk but really embraced it and tried really hard through the years to find ways to support it.

And then I think in terms of diversity, you know, I think I certainly benefited from organizations like Asian American Renaissance, for example, right? Where I benefited as a young person, and I would hope to say that later on as I became an adult, contributed. And there are so many great organizations like Sassy that Carolyn Holbrook ran. There's a lot of racially specific and identity specific organizations where people worked really hard to diversify, if that makes sense.

And the spoken word scene itself usually, especially back then, that was really a place where so many historically marginalized people, whether you're talking about race, gender, class, queerness, et cetera, really found an outlet for their creativity. So I don't know if that answers your question. I feel like it's a constantly evolving, constantly growing process.

CATHY WURZER: Because you've played so many roles and you continue I think in your life given who you are. You've were an author, a director, a performer, a facilitator. When you look at all the things you've done, which of those roles do you feel you've had the most impact with on the community?

BAO PHI: I mean, I really couldn't tell you. I think that that's something you would have to ask people if they value my work at all. Who knows, right? Like I think my whole thing has always been put your head down, do the work, do the work that you think is important. And if people find value in it, they find value in it. And if not, that's beyond your control. I don't know if that makes sense.

CATHY WURZER: Yeah, it does.

BAO PHI: You know, like I'm not trying to dodge your question. I guess the way that I would maybe try to answer it more directly is that with the books that I publish or the performances that I've done, I sometimes get lovely notes from people saying I didn't know someone who looked like me could do something like that. You know what I mean?

And so there's that effect. And then in terms of my organizing, I think one of my favorite things is getting people into a room together who have some things in common, some things in not, and seeing what we can build together. Does that make sense?

CATHY WURZER: Yes, it does.

BAO PHI: So I think that we all try to contribute in the ways that we can. We try to think about where we can be effective, and we do our best. I don't know if that answers your question or not.

CATHY WURZER: I have about 45 seconds left so maybe this is unfair, but what advice do you have for aspiring writers?

BAO PHI: You have to do it because you love. It's wonderful, and it's beautiful, and it's very difficult. But keep doing it no matter what because if you're called to do it, you just have to do it. And do not worry about awards. Do not worry about recognition. That's beyond your control what you have control of is you and your work.

CATHY WURZER: Well said. Congratulations and thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us.

BAO PHI: Thank you. Have a great day. Appreciate it.

CATHY WURZER: You too. All best.