Paul Tran

“I once thought I was
my own geometry,
my own geocentric planet
spinning like a ballerina, alone
at the center of the universe,
at the command of a god”

Although Paul Tran debuted only last year, they have already established a solid place in the American poetry landscape. Their first collection, All the flowers kneeling, was extremely well-received by critics and on stage. Tran, who started in the slam scene, has been a popular speaker and performer for more than a decade. Tran’s vivaciousness during their readings is contagious. The poet received a fellowship from the Poetry Foundation and is the winner of the Discovery/Boston Review poetry prize. Tran also teaches creative writing, English language and literature and Asian-American studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They are particularly interested in the investigative nature of poetry, and says their poems are certainly not a conclusion of such an investigation: "Often I find that my poems lead to more questions, more poems. That process is always going on, and therein, for Tran, lies the value of being a poet. For their poems, Tran regularly draws inspiration from elements of history; researchers from the 15th century, classical paintings that, through Tran’s words, suddenly seem very relevant to the world of today. At the invitation of Poetry International and the Dutch Foundation for Literature, the poet will spend three weeks in The Netherlands in June, where they says they are delighted to finally see work of the Dutch Masters with their own eyes.