From Laos to the world, a bridge of blessing

Mundus Artium Press announces the 2020 release of Sensible Bridge, selected poems by Laos writer Phiulavanh Luangvanna.

Dallas, Mar 16, 2020 (Issuewire.com) - Mundus Artium Press announces the 2020 release of Sensible Bridge, selected poems by Laos writer Phiulavanh Luangvanna. The book will speak to all readers who value sincerity in literature. Continuing Mundus Artium's global commitments, the writer's inviting, the expansive perspective will attract readers interested in depths beyond more familiar cultures. Sensible Bridge's blend of intelligence, spiritual elation and rigor refreshingly transcends political and confessional differences.

Award-winning writer and scholar Phiulavanh Luangvanna has emerged as a central figure in the literature of Southeast Asia. With 13 books published in her native Lao, she is a recipient of the SEA Write Award and the Mekong Award, among other honors. Her debut English-language collection provides a luminous, heartfelt view of her native settings, traditions and aspirations while conveying an ethos of planetary solidarity.
In Sensible Bridge, Phiulavanh voices an inspiring devotion to the causes of life, free speech and affirmative outreach. Readers will find her poems reverently down to earth, mindful of the needs of both human and natural ecosystems, and steadfastly supportive of fellowship and higher truths.

In addition to intercultural exchanges, Phiulavanh Luangvanna's writing reflects the unique characteristics of Laos, a mountainous country contoured by Southeast Asia's Mekong River. Her poems portray harmonious, humble scenes from the country's still largely agrarian countryside, as well as dynamic, festive vignettes from the capital.
In Sensible Bridge, readers will discover the emotional impact of the Lao people's carefully preserved indigenous music, dances and rituals. Certain poems describe her region's recently UNESCO-registered Khaen music, played on a bamboo mouth organ. Folk imagery further enriches the ethnographic portrait of the writer's work. Lao Buddhism is also integral to the book's aesthetics and moral vision.

Readers will detect a particularly lilting quality in Phiulavanh Luangvanna's poetry due to the writer's engagement with singing. Continuing the traditions of Laos, where poetry often converges with song, dance, theater and other arts, the writer has composed and performed poetry for singing in her native language. Suggestions of narrative and religious musicality also emerge in the book's English versions.

In light of Laos's long isolation, linked with political antagonism and upheaval, Mundus Artium takes special pride in Sensible Bridge as a contribution to diversity in contemporary worldviews. Inseparably from showing the enduring beauty of Laos's scenery and customs, Phiulavanh Luangvanna memorializes the country's struggles. One poem recalls the "living legend of Viengxai," the "cave city" where the future architects of a post-colonial Laos took shelter during years of heavy bombing by the United States during the country's civil war. Finding a positive lineage in the story of Laos's longtime socialism, as in related national sovereignty movements, Sensible Bridge will remind readers that the world must accommodate varied allegiances.

Sensible Bridge's compassionate vision will find resonance with readers intrigued by Asian cultures, as well as with all those seeking firmer values for their own lives. Phiulavanh Luangvanna's love of justice, community and worship represent forces for unity and wisdom in divided, distracted times. She brings a message of dialog and hopes from Laos to the whole world.

The ISBN number for the paperback edition of the book is 978-0-939378-08-1

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