The Beginning of Water
The powerful and imaginative diction of these poems combined with their dramatic contexts forces the reader to enter their own contemplation of those things we carry deep inside of who we are. A rare thing in poetry.
Tran Le Khanh is a contemporary poet of Vietnam who is considered one of those writers who have brought fresh air to Vietnamese poetry. Born in Saigon in 1971, four years before the war ended, Khanh grew up along with the country’s renovation in 1990s. His background is financial and his last job was the CIO for one of the largest fund management companies in Vietnam before resigning and dedicating his time to writing poetry, meditation, and working diligently to perfect the Luc Bat form, of which he is a master. He lives in Ho Chi Minh City with his wife and daughter.
Bruce Weigl enlisted in the U.S. Army at age eighteen and served in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. Weigl published his first book of poetry, A Romance in 1979. He has gone on to publish over a dozen poetry collections, including The Abundance of Nothing, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Archaeology of the Circle: New and Selected Poems; Song of Napalm; and Sweet Lorain.
He has received two Pushcart Prizes, a Patterson Poetry Prize, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has taught at the University of Arkansas, Old Dominion University, and Pennsylvania State University, and he currently teaches at Lorain County Community College. He lives in Lorain, Ohio.
