Bao Phi has been a performance poet since 1991. A two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist, he has performed as a featured artist all over the United States, has appeared on HBO Presents Russell Simmons Def Poetry, and a poem of his appeared in the 2006 Best American Poetry anthology. He has essays included in A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota as well as Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements. He has poems appearing in many anthologies and publications including Screaming Monkeys and Spoken Word Revolution Redux. He has been a City Pages and Star Tribune Artist of the Year. He is currently Program Director at the Loft Literary Center, where he started as a receptionist 15 years ago. His first collection of poems, Sông I Sing, was published by Coffee House Press in 2011. His second collection of poems, Thousand Star Hotel, will be published in summer of 2017, also by Coffee House, for which he was selected by Minnesota Monthly as Author of the Year. His first children's book, to be illustrated by Thi Bui and will be published by Capstone Press in the fall of 2017.
