Born in Vietnam, raised in South Minneapolis, Bao Phi is a two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist, whose poetry is included in the 2006 Best American Poetry anthology and published widely elsewhere, including two collections published by Coffee House Press as well as other collections and magazines such as Spoken Word Revolution Redux, Poetry Magazine, Asian-American Literary Review, and many others. His fiction and essays have appeared in Octavia’s Brood: Stories from Social Justice Movements, and A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota, and others. He is also known for his three children’s books: his A Different Pond received six starred reviews and multiple awards, including the Caldecott Honor, an Ezra Jack Keats Honor, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association award for best picture book, the Minnesota Book Award for picture books, and other recognitions. He was named by Minneapolis Monthly as Best Author 2016, and an Artist of the Year and Author of the Year by City Pages, 2017 and 2018.