When: September 24, 2024, 5PM

Where: Library Common Book Atrium (2nd floor)

2023-2025 embodies the 50th anniversary of the Lao diaspora connected to the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War affected by the US Secret War in Laos from 1959-1974 depending on the accounts you read. Class of ’97 student Bryan Thao Worra was among the first of those to arrive in the US in the aftermath of those wars and much of his literary career has explored this community making the transition from a monarchy to democracy. His newest collection American Laodyssey features over 55 classic poems by Thao Worra from the 1990s to the 2020s and new artworks by Columbus-based artist Bay Koulabdara.

Personally selected by the artists, these poems provide a retrospective of three decades of creative writing responding to a Laos in transition in America and across the globe. These particular poems are among the most noteworthy in his body of work. Many are the subject of academic papers and poems by other writers, in addition to his major award-winners. These are among his most frequently taught poems, reprinted in global anthologies, newspapers and journals, exhibits, and events such as the 2012 London Summer Games or the Smithsonian Asian American Literature Festival. American Laodyssey provides an ideal introduction for new readers with extensive notes, a historical timeline of Lao American history, and even helpful phrases in English and Lao for those in the middle of their own American Laodyssey and beyond.