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Andrew Lam is the author of the memoir - “Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora” (heyday books – 2005) and an editor with New America Media. His next book, “East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres” (Heyday Books – 2010) is due out in the Fall 2010.Lam’s essays have appeared widely in many newspapers and magazines, including The Nation, LA Times, and he has provided some 60 commentaries on All Things Considered. His book of short stories, “Birds of Paradise” is due out in 2011. Besides essays, his short stories are widely published.

Bao Phi, AKA Thien-bao Thuc Phi, is a Vietnamese American spoken word artist, writer and community activist living in Minnesota.
A graduate of Macalester College and retired pizza delivery boy, Bao Phi has performed at numerous venues and schools locally and nationally, from the Nuyorican Poet's Café to the University of California, Berkeley.Phi has twice won the Minnesota Grand Poetry Slam, and also won two poetry slams at the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York.He is the first Vietnamese American man to have appeared on HBO's Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, and the National Poetry Slam Individual Finalists Stage, where he placed 6th overall out of over 250 national slam poets.Bao Phi's vision is to offer an alternative perspective on Asian American community building through the arts. He has been a featured artist in many community events, rallies and functions, including an event to raise awareness and funds for inmates Eddie Zheng and Viet Ngo, who are working in the California penal system to create an Asian American studies program for incarcerated inmates (for more information, click here). You can watch one of Bao Phi's performances here.

Viet-Thi Ta, a San Francisco native, received her bachelors at SFSU in Biology and Art and minor baccalaureate in Asian American Studies. She is currently working in a non-profit organization as a science teacher for underrepresented urban high school students and also helped create a free health clinic for San Francisco’s South of Market community. She enjoys performing the er-hu for various Asian American charities, and have played for the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam. In addition to producing her own art, she also does free lance art and commissions. She aspires to become a doctor and plans to practice medicine in her motherland, Vietnam. Her goal as an artist is to use art and music as a medium to communicate her ideals and feelings towards the progression of Asian America and as a future health care provider, to enact a positive change within the global community.