Bryan Thao Worra
Encyclopedia
Bryan Thao Worra is a Laotian American
writer. His books include On The Other Side Of The Eye, Touching Detonations, Winter Ink, Barrow and The Tuk Tuk Diaries: My Dinner With Cluster Bombs. He is the first Laotian American to receive a Fellowship in Literature from the United States government's National Endowment for the Arts
. He has also received the Asian Pacific Leadership Award from the State Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans for Leadership in the Arts.
He came to the United States in July, 1973. He is the adopted child of an American pilot working for Royal Air Lao, a civilian airline. Bryan Thao Worra's early years were spent in Missoula, Montana
, Anchorage, Alaska
, and Saline, Michigan
. Thao Worra currently resides in the Hawthorne neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Bryan Thao Worra was adopted when he was three days old by an American pilot named John Worra, a pilot for Royal Air Lao. Thao Worra has an older brother and sister. His cousin, Dr. Caroline Worra, is an opera singer and educator. Many in his family live in the Midwestern United States.
In 2003, Thao Worra reunited with his biological family after nearly 30 years during a visit to Laos. He has three biological sisters and one brother on his mother's side. His mother was Nang Mitthalinh Silosot, who was also adopted. His father was Thao Souphanh.
, where he received a Waldorf education. He attended Saline, Michigan public high school and graduated in 1991. While there he had a significant interest in social studies, literature and mythology.
He attended Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio
between 1991–1997, studying communications and philosophy/religion. In college, Bryan Thao Worra was active in numerous campus activities including the political affairs club, Phi Eta Sigma
, the campus programming board and the Sigma Delta Phi Fraternity
. In college he was often engaged in issues of community service and received numerous awards for his writing and student leadership, including the Roy Burkhart Prize for Religious Poetry.
A widely published Laotian writer, his work appears in the Bamboo Among the Oaks
anthology, as well as Whistling Shade, Urban Pioneer, Unarmed, the Asian Pacific Journal and the Journal of the Asian American Renaissance and the anthology Outsiders Within. In 2011 he was approved as an active member of the Horror Writers Association and also holds membership in the Science Fiction Poetry Association.
Thao Worra's writing explores many themes including transience, identity and home. His style is frequently experimental and draws from a variety of modern and contemporary influences, including science fiction and horror. In interviews, he has cited numerous literary influences including Franz Kafka
, Jorge Luis Borges
, Samuel Beckett
, H.P. Lovecraft, Larry Hama
, Yusef Komunyakaa
, Heather McHugh
, Tadeusz Borowski
, Adrienne Su, Leonard Cohen
, Tom Waits
, Khalil Gibran
, Joseph Campbell
, Hermann Hesse
and Shuntaro Tanikawa
.
He makes several collections of his poetry available for free online in e-chapbooks
to increase accessibility of his work to Laotian and Hmong
audiences. His chapbook The Tuk-Tuk Diaries: My Dinner With Clusterbombs was printed by Unarmed Press in 2003 in a limited edition. Sphinx House Press released Touching Detonations in the same year exploring the issue of unexploded ordnance in Laos and Southeast Asia. These were the first works to emerge from his first return to Laos after 30 years.
His first full-length book of poetry, On The Other Side Of The Eye was released in August 2007 from Sam's Dot Publishing, based in Iowa. Sam's Dot Publishing specializes in speculative literature.
He often writes as a freelance reporter for several Asian American
newspapers including Asian American Press, interviewing numerous Asian American writers and artists as well as covering community events and programs.
Bryan Thao Worra was a 2002 Minnesota Playwrights' Center Many Voices Fellow. His play Black Box was performed at the Sex/No Sex Festival, Ensemble Studio Theater, New York, NY in November, 2006. He also assisted in the editing of the modernized theater adaptation of Phadaeng and Nang Ai, a traditional Lao/Isan Love Story by Suthasinee Srisawat in May, 2007 for Bakka Magazine.
He is an active member of the SatJaDham Lao Literary Project, working to promote the work of Laotian and Hmong
artists and writers. Thao Worra organized several public readings and exhibitions of Laotian and Asian American artists in Minnesota
, including Emerging Voices (2002), The Five Senses Show (2002), Lao'd and Clear (2004), and Giant Lizard Theater (2005). He has also been connected with professional storytelling groups in Minnesota and maintains an interest in puppetry.
Thao Worra received funding from the Loft Literary Center and the Minnesota State Arts Board to promote his work and to complete additional books. He was also recognized in 2009 by the State Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans with the Asian Pacific Leadership Award for Excellence in the Arts.
In 2008, he announced two projects, a new book of poetry entitled Barrow that was released by Sam's Dot Publishing in 2009, and Winter Ink, which was released in December, 2008 from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts
.
In 2009, Thao Worra became the first Laotian American writer to receive a fellowship in literature from the United States government's National Endowment for the Arts to continue his work as a poet. NEA Literature Fellowships are awarded to published creative writers of exceptional talent in the areas of prose and poetry to advance the goal of encouraging and supporting artistic creativity and preserving our diverse cultural heritage. The NEA was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, and the Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts.
He was a key figure in convening the National Lao American Writers Summit in Minneapolis, Minnesota in August, 2010 and the Legacies of War: Refugee Nation exhibit and multidisciplinary arts festival in October, 2010 at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis.
, Asian Media Access, and Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly
, the Lao Assistance Center and the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council. He also volunteered extensively with the Hmong American Institute for Learning and briefly served as its interim executive director. He has also been a volunteer of AsianAmericanPoetry.com a member of their advisory board. He has also been a member of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association and in 2008 was elected the president of SF Minnesota. In 2009, he was elected to the board of directors of the Loft Literary Center to serve a three-year term.
Laotian American
A Laotian American is a resident of the United States who was originally from Laos, a person of Laotian descent residing in America, or a citizen born in the United States whose parents were originally from Laos. Laotian Americans are included in the larger category of Asian Americans...
writer. His books include On The Other Side Of The Eye, Touching Detonations, Winter Ink, Barrow and The Tuk Tuk Diaries: My Dinner With Cluster Bombs. He is the first Laotian American to receive a Fellowship in Literature from the United States government's National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
. He has also received the Asian Pacific Leadership Award from the State Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans for Leadership in the Arts.
Family and early years
Bryan Thao Worra was born Thao Somnouk Silosoth in Vientiane, Laos on January 1, 1973 during the Laotian Secret War (1954–1975).He came to the United States in July, 1973. He is the adopted child of an American pilot working for Royal Air Lao, a civilian airline. Bryan Thao Worra's early years were spent in Missoula, Montana
Missoula, Montana
Missoula is a city located in western Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. The 2010 Census put the population of Missoula at 66,788 and the population of Missoula County at 109,299. Missoula is the principal city of the Missoula Metropolitan Area...
, Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
, and Saline, Michigan
Saline, Michigan
Saline is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,810.The city is popular for its annual Celtic Festival, which attracts people from all over the United States and its sister cities Brecon, Wales and Lindenberg, Germany...
. Thao Worra currently resides in the Hawthorne neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Bryan Thao Worra was adopted when he was three days old by an American pilot named John Worra, a pilot for Royal Air Lao. Thao Worra has an older brother and sister. His cousin, Dr. Caroline Worra, is an opera singer and educator. Many in his family live in the Midwestern United States.
In 2003, Thao Worra reunited with his biological family after nearly 30 years during a visit to Laos. He has three biological sisters and one brother on his mother's side. His mother was Nang Mitthalinh Silosot, who was also adopted. His father was Thao Souphanh.
Education
Bryan Thao Worra attended several private Lutheran elementary schools in Alaska and Michigan. Thao Worra later attended the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann ArborRudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor
The Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor is a private school located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It provides a Waldorf based education for students in grades preK - 12, and is one of three Waldorf Schools in the State of Michigan. The school is accredited by both the and the .-History:The was...
, where he received a Waldorf education. He attended Saline, Michigan public high school and graduated in 1991. While there he had a significant interest in social studies, literature and mythology.
He attended Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio
Westerville, Ohio
Westerville, once known as "The Dry Capital of the World", is a city in Franklin and Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 35,318 at the 2000 census.-Early history:...
between 1991–1997, studying communications and philosophy/religion. In college, Bryan Thao Worra was active in numerous campus activities including the political affairs club, Phi Eta Sigma
Phi Eta Sigma
Phi Eta Sigma is an American freshman honor society. Founded at the University of Illinois on March 22, 1923, is the oldest and largest freshman honor society and now has more than three hundred chapters throughout the United States and more than 1 million members.-Eligibility:Any first-year...
, the campus programming board and the Sigma Delta Phi Fraternity
Sigma Delta Phi
Sigma Delta Phi , one of eight sororities at Grove City College, was a secret organization until 1920 when a charter was obtained while Weir C. Ketler was President of the College. The sorority originally consisted of 10 members. These women chose the symbols that would come to represent the...
. In college he was often engaged in issues of community service and received numerous awards for his writing and student leadership, including the Roy Burkhart Prize for Religious Poetry.
Writing
Bryan Thao Worra has written creatively from an early age, but began seriously writing in 1991. Some of his earliest writing first appeared in the Otterbein College literary magazine Quiz and Quill and the campus newspaper, the Tan and Cardinal. He often performed in the Otterbein College Philomathean Room in Towers Hall, and at local coffee houses in Westerville.A widely published Laotian writer, his work appears in the Bamboo Among the Oaks
Bamboo Among the Oaks
Bamboo Among the Oaks is the first Hmong American anthology of creative writing, published in 2002 by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. Many of the pieces contained in Bamboo Among The Oaks first appeared in the Paj Ntaub Voice Hmoob literary journal.Edited by Mai Neng Moua, Bamboo Among the...
anthology, as well as Whistling Shade, Urban Pioneer, Unarmed, the Asian Pacific Journal and the Journal of the Asian American Renaissance and the anthology Outsiders Within. In 2011 he was approved as an active member of the Horror Writers Association and also holds membership in the Science Fiction Poetry Association.
Thao Worra's writing explores many themes including transience, identity and home. His style is frequently experimental and draws from a variety of modern and contemporary influences, including science fiction and horror. In interviews, he has cited numerous literary influences including Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
, Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
, Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
, H.P. Lovecraft, Larry Hama
Larry Hama
Larry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
, Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa is an American poet who currently teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for Neon Vernacular and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He also received the Ruth Lilly...
, Heather McHugh
Heather McHugh
-Life:Heather McHugh, a poet, translator, and educator, was born in San Diego, California, to Canadian parents, John Laurence, a marine biologist, and Eileen Francesca . They raised McHugh in Gloucester Point, Virginia. There, her father directed the marine biological laboratory on the York River...
, Tadeusz Borowski
Tadeusz Borowski
Tadeusz Borowski was a Polish writer and journalist. His wartime poetry and stories dealing with his experiences as a prisoner at Auschwitz are recognized as classics of Polish literature and had much influence in Central European society.- Early life :...
, Adrienne Su, Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān,Jibrān Khalīl Jibrān, or Jibrān Xalīl Jibrān; Arabic , January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) also known as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer...
, Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
, Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature...
and Shuntaro Tanikawa
Shuntaro Tanikawa
is a Japanese poet and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nobel Prize in Literature...
.
He makes several collections of his poetry available for free online in e-chapbooks
Chapbook
A chapbook is a pocket-sized booklet. The term chap-book was formalized by bibliophiles of the 19th century, as a variety of ephemera , popular or folk literature. It includes many kinds of printed material such as pamphlets, political and religious tracts, nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales,...
to increase accessibility of his work to Laotian and Hmong
Hmong language
Hmong or Mong is the common name for a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmong–Mien/Miao–Yao language family spoken by the Hmong people of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos...
audiences. His chapbook The Tuk-Tuk Diaries: My Dinner With Clusterbombs was printed by Unarmed Press in 2003 in a limited edition. Sphinx House Press released Touching Detonations in the same year exploring the issue of unexploded ordnance in Laos and Southeast Asia. These were the first works to emerge from his first return to Laos after 30 years.
His first full-length book of poetry, On The Other Side Of The Eye was released in August 2007 from Sam's Dot Publishing, based in Iowa. Sam's Dot Publishing specializes in speculative literature.
He often writes as a freelance reporter for several Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
newspapers including Asian American Press, interviewing numerous Asian American writers and artists as well as covering community events and programs.
Bryan Thao Worra was a 2002 Minnesota Playwrights' Center Many Voices Fellow. His play Black Box was performed at the Sex/No Sex Festival, Ensemble Studio Theater, New York, NY in November, 2006. He also assisted in the editing of the modernized theater adaptation of Phadaeng and Nang Ai, a traditional Lao/Isan Love Story by Suthasinee Srisawat in May, 2007 for Bakka Magazine.
He is an active member of the SatJaDham Lao Literary Project, working to promote the work of Laotian and Hmong
Hmong people
The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...
artists and writers. Thao Worra organized several public readings and exhibitions of Laotian and Asian American artists in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, including Emerging Voices (2002), The Five Senses Show (2002), Lao'd and Clear (2004), and Giant Lizard Theater (2005). He has also been connected with professional storytelling groups in Minnesota and maintains an interest in puppetry.
Thao Worra received funding from the Loft Literary Center and the Minnesota State Arts Board to promote his work and to complete additional books. He was also recognized in 2009 by the State Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans with the Asian Pacific Leadership Award for Excellence in the Arts.
In 2008, he announced two projects, a new book of poetry entitled Barrow that was released by Sam's Dot Publishing in 2009, and Winter Ink, which was released in December, 2008 from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts
Minnesota Center for Book Arts
Minnesota Center for Book Arts is the largest and most comprehensive independent non-profit book arts center in the United States. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, MCBA is a nationally recognized leader in the celebration and preservation of traditional crafts including hand papermaking,...
.
In 2009, Thao Worra became the first Laotian American writer to receive a fellowship in literature from the United States government's National Endowment for the Arts to continue his work as a poet. NEA Literature Fellowships are awarded to published creative writers of exceptional talent in the areas of prose and poetry to advance the goal of encouraging and supporting artistic creativity and preserving our diverse cultural heritage. The NEA was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, and the Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts.
He was a key figure in convening the National Lao American Writers Summit in Minneapolis, Minnesota in August, 2010 and the Legacies of War: Refugee Nation exhibit and multidisciplinary arts festival in October, 2010 at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis.
Career
Bryan Thao Worra typically works with community service agencies such as Hmong National Development, the National Youth Leadership CouncilNational Youth Leadership Council
The National Youth Leadership Council, or NYLC, is a national nonprofit organization located in Saint Paul, Minnesota that promotes service-learning in schools and communities across the United States. Founded in 1983 by Dr. James Kielsmeier, NYLC is the host of the annual National Service-Learning...
, Asian Media Access, and Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly
Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly
Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly is a network of non-profit, volunteer-based organizationslocated in the United States that are committed to relieving isolation and loneliness among the elderly.Chapters are located in following US cities:...
, the Lao Assistance Center and the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council. He also volunteered extensively with the Hmong American Institute for Learning and briefly served as its interim executive director. He has also been a volunteer of AsianAmericanPoetry.com a member of their advisory board. He has also been a member of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association and in 2008 was elected the president of SF Minnesota. In 2009, he was elected to the board of directors of the Loft Literary Center to serve a three-year term.
Selected works
- Barrow, Sam's Dot Publishing, 2009.
- Winter Ink, Minnesota Center For Book Arts, 2008.
- On The Other Side Of The Eye, Sam's Dot Publishing, 2007.
- My Dinner With Cluster Bombs (The Tuk-Tuk Diaries), Unarmed Press Chapbook, 2003.
- Touching Detonations, Sphinx House Press e-chapbook, 2003.
Awards and recognition
- 2011 Artist Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board.
- 2010 Literacy Award, Lao Professionals of Illinois.
- 2009 National Endowment for the Arts, Fellowship in Literature for Poetry.
- 2009 Asian Pacific Leadership Award, State Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans.
- 2008 Artists Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board.
- 2007 Career Initiative Grant, Loft Literary Center.
- 2005 Minnesota State Arts Board Cultural Collaboration Award with Mali Kouanchao.
- 2002 Minnesota Playwrights Center Many Voices Artist-In-Residence.
- 1994 Otterbein College Quiz and Quill Poetry Contest, First and Third Place.
- 1994 Otterbein College Quiz and Quill Walter Lowre Barnes Short Story Contest, First Place.
- 1994 Otterbein College Quiz and Quill Roy Burkhart Religious Poetry Contest, Second Place.
- 1993 Otterbein College Quiz and Quill Personal Essay Contest, First Place.
- 1993 Otterbein College Quiz and Quill Roy Burkhart Religious Poetry Contest, Second Place.
- 1991-1992 Otterbein College Quiz and Quill Poetry Contest, Second Place.
- 1991 James E. CaseyJames E. CaseyJames E. Casey , American businessman, was born in Pick Handle Gulch near Candelaria, Nevada.In 1907, 19-year-old James Casey founded the American Messenger Company in Seattle, Washington with $100 borrowed from a friend. He served as president, CEO and chairman...
Memorial Scholarship.
- 1991 Otterbein College Ammons-Thomas Award.
- 1991 National Honor Society Debra Kolander Service Scholarship, Saline High School.
External links
- Bryan Thao Worra's Official Myspace
- Bryan Thao Worra's YouTube Channel
- Bryan Thao Worra's blog
- Bryan Thao Worra on Goodreads.com
- Myspace page for Bryan Thao Worra's book, On The Other Side Of The Eye
- 2.1.5. Magazine Interview with Bryan Thao Worra
- Saline Reporter Interview with Bryan Thao Worra
- Fourth Estate article on Bryan Thao Worra
- A Hmong Times Interview With Bryan Thao Worra.
- University of Wisconsin Green Bay Press Release
- A Voice of America Interview With Bryan Thao Worra
- Whistling Shade Review of Bryan Thao Worra's chapbook Touching Detonations
- Whistling Shade Review of Bryan Thao Worra's book On The Other Side Of The Eye
- Bryan Thao Worra on Boston Progress Radio