Ed Bok Lee Reading at the Central Library

What: Ed Bok Lee and Bao Phi: Joint Book Launch and Conversation

When: 8 p.m., Saturday

Where: Minneapolis Central Library, Pohlad Hall, 300 Nicollet Mall

Cost: Free

With the national recognition of “Real Karaoke People,” Minnesota poet Ed Bok Lee voiced the unheard stories of countless souls. Characters like immigrants, a Korean War Veteran, “Skip Ching Porn King,” and “The Man From Guangdong” feel alive.

All of the rawness of South Minneapolis streets enlivens the page. Lee never shies away from uncovering racial hierarchies, offering an uncompromising view of America, contradictions and all.

Once again, Lee seeks a large canvas for his poetry. His second book, “Whorled,” encompasses global issues likethe worldwide loss of culture and language.

“At the core, [‘Whorled’] is about the consequences of globalization and the lesser seen consequences that we don’t always think about,” Lee said.

Kale Fajardo, a a, aprofessor in the Asian-American Studies Department, relishes Lee’s exploration of space, locally and internationally.

“[Lee] knows a lot about the ways that certain languages are dying out. Those languages are being exterminated by other dominant ones,” Fajardo said. “As a poet, he really cares about the diversity of language.”

Having lived in the U.S., South Korea, Kazakhstan and Russia, Lee explores dialogue between human beings, dispelling stereotypes and simple definitions. Lee’s academic study of the Asian diaspora in Kazakhstan and other countries allows him unique insight. This first-hand account, combined with his poetic intuition, effectively illuminates transplanted cultures.

“He’s interested in places in various Diaspora that people don’t know a lot about or are under-addressed,” Fajardo said. “He’s both local, but then cares about international and global issues.”

Linguistic diversity is rapidly fading as a result of globalization, so Lee’s poems represent crucial exercises in preserving these cultures, if only between the words of his writing.

“The more you can empathize with your character, I think the more interesting [the poem] becomes,” Lee said.

Priding himself on faith, Lee wills himself to address cultural confusions with a distinct, personal voice. As much as the 21st century has connected cultures via the Internet, Lee also expresses concerns for the unseen barriers inherent.

“For all the great and magical things that technology brings, I think it makes us less dependent on one another,” Lee said. “It creates this illusion that were independent.”

Those illusions lead to volatile social barriers, something he works to dissolve with “Whorled.”

“The inability or unwillingness or disinterest to empathize with someone not like you is a privilege,” Lee said.

Lee’s writing is required reading in Fajardo’s class, Contemporary Perspectives on Asian America. Where Lee’s writing has explored local issues, Fajardo teaches his class with the interest in defining Asian-American life in the Midwest, alongside better-known models of the New York or California Asian-American experience.

“People think of Minnesota as being dominated by Scandinavian-Americans or they might have an image of ‘Fargo.’ People don’t know that much about — what is the daily street life of being in Minneapolis, on the Southside or Lake Street?” said Fajaro.

Lee’s writing, alongside fellow local spoken word artist Bao Phi, places Minnesota on a continuum of Asian America that is often neglected.

Where stereotypes give people certain viewpoints, poets like Lee and Phi (“Song I Sing“) express powerful meditations of overlapping ideas, traditions, values and beliefs.

“[‘Whorled’] is an attempt to make sense of all these cultural confusions,” Lee said.