Cathy Linh Che

Cathy Linh Che is a Vietnamese-American poet from Los Angeles, California. Che was the middle child out of three kids. Cathy Che's father was a Vietnamese soldier in the Vietnam War. Her mother and father often told gruesome stories from the war which would later inspire her work as a poet. While growing up, Che's mother would comfort her and protect her while her father exemplified a sort of tough love. Cathy Linh Che attended Reed College and New York University where she received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees.

When asked in an interview at Emerson College of what brought Cathy Linh Che to poetry, Che responded saying, "I would have to say that my parents brought me to poetry. Though neither one is a poet, my upbringing was filled with their stories. While sitting at the dinner table, my parents would tell me about their lives during the Vietnam War, the year in a refugee camp, their first years in the U.S. When I began writing, their voices demanded to be told. I couldn't help but see their stories as fundamentally part of my own." Being half American and Vietnamese made for an interesting life for Che. In the same interview done by Emerson College Che states, "I was raised in Highland Park in a working class Asian and Latino immigrant community. So, while there were plenty of clashes between my parents and me, it was something that everyone around me experienced so I never felt different or alone until going away to college."

Career and awards

Che's most recognized work comes from a book called Split, which holds various poems that are based off psychological, sexual, and abusive effects of war.

Throughout Cathy Linh Che's career, several awards have been pinned to her name, such as The Kundiman Poetry Prize, the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America, and The Best Poetry Book Award from the Association of Asian American Studies.