Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay is a Minnesota-based Lao American spoken word poet, playwright, and community activist.
15 Facts About Saymoukda Vongsay
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Saymoukda Vongsay was born in 1981 in a refugee camp in Nong Khai, Thailand.
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Saymoukda Vongsay received a Master in Liberal Studies focused on public policy and arts and cultural leadership from the University of Minnesota.
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Saymoukda Vongsay is the author of No Regrets, a chapbook collection of poetry and haikus published by Baby Rabbit Publishing in 2007.
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In 2010, Vongsay was the recipient of the inaugural Alfred C Carey Prize in Spoken Word Poetry.
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Saymoukda Vongsay has lent her experience in literary arts, programming, and community engagement to organizations such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Southeast Asian Resource and Action Center, Legacies of War, Mines Advisory Group, Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota, the MN Historical Society, Paj Ntaub Voice Literary Journal, and the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre in Luang Prabang, Laos.
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Saymoukda Vongsay has performed and taught creative writing workshops across the United States and internationally in Italy and Japan.
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Saymoukda Vongsay was a co-chair of the first Lao American Writers Summit in Minnesota in 2010 and actively supports the work of Lao women writers and artists to celebrate heritage, diversity and community development.
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Saymoukda Vongsay has served as a regular contributor to MPR's weekly podcast The Interpreters.
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Saymoukda Vongsay's plays have been presented by Mu Performing Arts, The Unit Collective, Minnesota Fringe Festival, The Playwrights' Center, and the Consortium of Asian American Theater Artists.
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Saymoukda Vongsay was a featured artist for the Sulu Series in Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York, a three-city monthly showcase of emerging and established Asian American artists, founded by Taiyo Na.
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Saymoukda Vongsay has worked as a programs coordinator and consultant on community-based projects, research analysis, grant writing, program planning and evaluation, and community assessment.
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Saymoukda Vongsay has previously worked with the Anchorage Urban League of Young Professionals, lecturing and performing at local high schools and at the university level to urge voter registration and civic engagement, and she served as liaison between local government and the Southeast Asian community regarding public policy in Alaska.
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Saymoukda Vongsay is Chair of the Twin Cities World Refugee Day festival planning committee, is a COMPAS and East Side Arts Council teaching artist, and serves on the board of directors for Intermedia Arts, Saint Paul Almanac, and Ananya Dance Theatre.
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Saymoukda Vongsay has been recognized as a 2011 Change Maker by Intermedia Arts and the office of Governor Dayton for her work in the community and her contributions and leadership in the state's Lao arts movement.