About
I am a native New Orleanian of Filipino descent; a poet, writer, and community historian who researches and shares the stories of Filipino Louisiana; a scholar and educator, an associate professor of English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who holds the Dr. James Wilson/BORSF Eminent Scholar Endowed Professorship in Southern Studies; a father who wants his children to be proud of their heritage.
Current Projects
Foodways
I am researching the foods and foodways of Filipino Louisiana to write a book for LSU Press. I am exploring the “raw fish” eaten at St. Malo, dried shrimp recipes, and community gatherings, and learning to cook Filipino foods.
Poetry
I am writing a series of epistolary poems addressed to those who populate the stories of my life. Verse letters are addressed to family, a reggae band, a couple residing on ancestral lands, Filipinos in the UAE, and more.
