Poetry. Asian American Studies. "There is an inevitability implicit in the directness of Tsering Wangmo Dhompa's poetry that leaves the reader quite unprepared for the sudden leaps in reality it then proposes. As the first Tibetan-American poet to receive any substantial distribution, Dhompa opens U.S. poetry up to new modes of possibility in almost anything she does. She is a terrific one, on any terms. Dhompa isn't just about bringing some new strands of thread into the American literary tapestry, she's out to reweave the whole thing. We all stand to be far richer for that. But we'll have to pay attention"—Ron Silliman.

Author Hometown: SAN FRANCISCO, CA USA



About the author: Tsering Wangmo Dhompa is the author of MY RICE TASTES LIKE THE LAKE (Apogee Press, 2011), IN THE ABSENT EVERYDAY (Apogee Press, 2005), and RULES OF THE HOUSE (Apogee Press, 2002), which was a finalist for the Asian American Literary Awards in 2003. Dhompa attended Lady Shri Ram College (Delhi University), the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and San Francisco State University. Her publications include two chapbooks, In Writing the Names (A.Bacus, Potes & Poets Press, 2000) and Recurring Gestures (Tangram Press, 2000). She has received a Cultural Equity Grant from the Arts Commission of San Francisco, and fellowships at the MacDowell Colony and Hedgebrook. Dhompa grew up in the Tibetan exile communities of Nepal and India and now lives in San Francisco.

Reviews:
Joshua Marie Wilkinson @ Verse