Bryan Thao Worra was born in Laos in 1973, while his country was embroiled in a Vietnam-era civil war between U.S.-supported Hmong and communist forces.

He ended up being adopted by an American pilot and coming to the U.S. when 6 months old. He now lives in Minnesota but has not forgotten Laos.
Because of the nature of this “secret war” in Laos, many of the stories of what happened have never been heard before and aren’t included in the history text books, Thao Worra said.

“I’ve seen the devastating effect that war and efforts to erase the voice and dreams of people and cultures can have, not just in the present, but over generations,” he said. “Once lost, those voices can never be recorded.”

For Thao Worra, writing helps reclaim that voice. He hopes his stories will serve as a guide for future generations.

Thao Worra will read from his new poetry book, “On the Other Side of the Eye” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Hmong Cultural Community Center. He also will speak to two Viterbo University classes.

Viterbo student Mayche Vang met Thao Worra at a conference at University of Wisconsin-Stout several years ago and invited him to La Crosse.

An English writing minor at Viterbo, Vang also writes a lot about her heritage, culture and personal experience as a Hmong living in the U.S.

She said while La Crosse has a large Hmong population, the community knows little about them.

Rolf Samuel, professor of the two classes Thao Worra will attend, said students often enter his Multi-cultural American Literature class with little knowledge of the Hmong.

“There is a responsibility we have to look at the world around us, and that starts here, locally,” he said.

His class looks at how one cultural tradition, such as the Hmong, interacts with the mainstream American culture, he said.

“Seeing this author will make that cultural difference between the Hmong culture and American culture more transparent and more real,” he said.

Vang hopes Thao Worra will bring some insight about diversity to Viterbo and La Crosse. Thao Worra hopes it will energize people to look at the potential within themselves to create meaningful stories.

“We need to teach each other to value our voices and value the stories we have within ourselves,” he said. “I can’t guarantee that we’ll be reading that work 1,000 years from now, but I can say that if we don’t create, nothing will be there to be found.”

KJ Lang can be reached at (608) 791-8226 or klang@lacrossetribune.com.

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