Conflict permeates Teresa Mei Chuc’s work, whether the poem is about her own family’s perilous escape from Vietnam by boat, the devastating environmental impact of Agent Orange, or hearing about child killed by a bomb on a playground.

Chuc is the author of two collections of poetry, Red Thread (Fithian Press, 2012) and Keeper of the Winds (FootHills Publishing, 2014), as well as a new chapbook of poetry, How One Loses Notes and Sounds (Word Palace Press, 2016). She graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in Vermont and teaches literature and writing at a public high school in Los Angeles.

Chuc was raised Buddhist. In her video for Tricycle Poetry Month, she talks about exploring painful subjects with compassion instead of anger. In a writing lesson, Chuc will encourage you to do the same and discover what happens in your writing when your perspective shifts.

Is this the first you’ve heard of Tricycle Poetry Month? Tune in to Week 1: Zen, Poetry, and Not Thinking with Connecticut Poet Laureate Emeritus Dick Allen.

Learn more about Teresa Mei Chuc in her 2012 Rattle interview.

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