Biography

Teresa Mei Chuc was born in Sài Gòn, Việt Nam and fled her Vietnamese homeland with her mother and brother shortly after the American war, spending three and a half months in a freight boat stranded in the South China Sea before being rescued. Her father, who had served in the Army of the Republic of Việt Nam, was imprisoned in a Việt Cộng “re-education” camp for nine years. Teresa is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, Invisible Light (Many Voices Press, 2018), Keeper of the Winds (FootHills Publishing, 2014) and Red Thread (Fithian Press, 2012). Her books examine the consequences of the Việt Nam War on her family, identity, and the environment. Teresa’s poetry chapbook, Incidental Takes, written originally in English with Vietnamese translations, was published by Hummingbird Press in 2023 and delves into the effects of war and capitalism on our cetacean relatives. Teresa’s poetry was recently published in Here Was Once the Sea: An Anthology of Southeast Asian Eco-Writing (University of Hawaii Press, 2024). She is co-editor of the forthcoming anthology, Convergence: Poetry on Environmental Impacts of War (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2025). Teresa’s poetry is forthcoming in The Ecopoetry Anthology, Volume 2 (Trinity University Press, 2025). She teaches literature and writing at a public school in Los Angeles.