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I was born in Sa Đéc, Việt Nam, a French colonial town in the Mekong Delta of southern Việt Nam. This was where I learned to walk and talk, where I climbed trees and fell out of trees, where I was bitten by leeches and fire ants, where I taught myself to ride a bicycle, drawing concentric circles in the dirt around a centipede-infested tree trunk.
Delta rain came down suddenly and in warm sheets; the soil steamed, released a fertile mud odor that penetrated all senses. On humid nights, fireflies lit up the dark countryside and a symphony of frogs and crickets provided the soundtrack for my childhood sleep.
On the morning of my ninth birthday, I carried a child-size, cerise suitcase and left on my journey to America. On the walk to the bus station, a stray dog bit my behind; a piece of me stayed wedged between its teeth as it trotted off and disappeared into the bustles of the day.
My poetic instincts are rooted in the malleable redness of Sa Đéc clay and in the vibrations of a scarred land that is both intimately familiar and foreign to me. It is the poetry of the body and of the gut.
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biography
A poet and artist, Samantha Lê emigrated from Sa Đéc, Việt Nam to California at the age of nine. Lê’s image-rich persona poems and dramatic monologues explore subjects of abjection, feminine identity, and the Southeast Asian diaspora experience. Lê holds an MFA in Creative Writing from San José State University. Her publications include Corridors (2001), My Solitude (2003) and Little Sister Left Behind (2007). Her poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals, including: The Journal, Bayou Magazine, Two Thirds North, Brooklyn Review, and The Minnesota Review.
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