SEATTLE (May 18, 2017) — For almost a decade, the Lao American Writers Summit (LAWS) has brought together hundreds of creatives and community builders from across the nation to convene with their peers, exchange artistic expression, and raise visibility of the Lao American experience.
This year, the 4th LAWS will be hosted in the Seattle area of Des Moines, WA on June 23-24th at Highline College, with the theme of being ‘Lao’d and Clear’. The greater Seattle area is home to approximately 9,000 Lao Americans, the fourth largest and one of the most active communities in the nation.
The two-day summit will include writing workshops, community panels, gallery exhibitions, a resource fair, and a delicious spread of Lao cuisine. The local LAWS team is thrilled to invite keynote speakers Krysada Panusith Phounsiri and Saymoukda Vongsay to engage the anticipated 150+ attendees coming from all over the nation. Phounsiri is the author of Dance Among Elephants, published by Sahtu Press in 2015, hailing from San Diego, and Vongsay of Minneapolis, is an award-winning poet, playwright and community activist. Together, the two will inspire participants to express themselves Lao’d and Clear as they engage in the community, society and world at large.
”This summit is deeply meaningful for me to see so many of my younger peers stepping forward to share what we’ve been teaching them for the last seven years to a new generation. It gives me hope that we’re arriving in a time of the Lao American renaissance,” said Bryan Thao Worra, award-winning poet and co-founder of LAWS.
The event is free and open to the public, but seats are limited. To register and learn more, visit www.laowriters.org.
Founded in 2010, the Lao American Writers Summit (LAWS) vision is to provide the necessary space to create, provide the platform for driving visibility and lead a national Lao American narrative to connect writers, artists and creatives from across the United States to exchange ideas and promote their artistry. www.laowriters.org.
