Bao Phi, author of You are Life
Children’s Literature Category, sponsored by Bernadette Janisch
Each week leading up to the 35th annual Minnesota Book Awards, we are featuring exclusive interviews with our finalists. You can also watch the authors in conversation with their fellow category finalists here.
Would you tell us one or two things about your finalist book that you are particularly proud of, and why?
As with any of my books for children, I hope that it has reached the kids that need it.
What advice would you give to an aspiring writer with an interest in your category?
Read everything. And read it aloud. Preferably to kids.
Tell us about a favorite book. Why did you find it moving, influential, or otherwise memorable?
Hua Hsu’s memoir, Stay True. A painful and refreshing memoir focusing on the friendship of two Asian American men. Something we need more of in our culture.
Tell us something about yourself that is not widely known.
I used to DJ weddings and parties. Not very well, but I did.
The Minnesota Book Awards is a celebration of writers, readers – and libraries. We’d love if you would share thoughts about the role and value of libraries.
Libraries saved my life when I was a kid. And they opened my mind and heart to so many different ideas and stories. I come from a working class refugee family that didn’t have a lot of resources, and libraries were both sanctuary and entertainment hub. The Franklin Avenue library in particular.
Bao Phi is the author of two poetry collections and four children’s books, including the multi-award-winning A Different Pond. He was a Visiting Critic in the English Department of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 2021 and a National Poetry Slam finalist.