Bao Phi is a Vietnamese-American spoken word artist,[1][2] writer and community activist living in Minnesota.
[7] Bao Phi was born in Saigon, Vietnam as the youngest son to a Vietnamese mother and a Chinese-Vietnamese father.
He attended and graduated from Macalester College, where he was encouraged to pursue creative writing by Native American Literature professor, Diane Glancy.
[12] Phi has been a featured performer at numerous venues and schools locally and nationally, from the Nuyorican Poet's Café to the University of California, Berkeley.
His poetry is included in the EMC/Paradigm line of English textbooks for high school students, and has done voice work for their educational materials.
[15] In 2017, Phi and illustrator, Thi Bui, released a children's book with Capstone Publishers titled A Different Pond, which earned the prestigious Caldecott Honor.
[17] Phi has received numerous awards and honors, including multiple Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grants.