Ice Breakers, by Brandon Thein An Vu

Poetry, chapbook, 20 ages, from Bottlecap Features.

Brandon Thein An Vu is an introvert. He’s also a high school English teacher. In Ice Breakers, Vu finds both discomfort and acceptance in the irony of his identities. How growing up, he'd struggle with presentations and saying his name for attendance. Now he stands in front of a classroom for a living. Vu gets honest about the small inconveniences of being the only adult in the room—like having to introduce himself to new students every year.

In this collection of poems, Vu studies the morning dust, contemplates why his lessons aren’t resonating, and audits what it means to love his parents’ second language while barely understanding their first. Ice Breakers is about not looking the part, and the anxiety of first impressions.

Brandon Thein An Vu is a Vietnamese-American who lives in the Bay Area, Fairfield, California. He is an educator who teaches 9th-grade English and Creative Writing. His work has appeared in KQED, Antonym Lit, and The San Franciscan.