Chrysanthemum Tran

Chrysanthemum Tran is a Vietnamese American poet, writer, and performer based in Rhode Island.

In 2016, Tran became the first transgender woman to be a finalist at Women of the World Poetry Slam.{{Cite web |last=Labra |first=Keana A. |date=2019-08-22 |title=Chrysanthemum Tran, Vietnamese American poet. The First Trans Woman Finalist of the Women of the 20 |url=https://www.chopsticksalley.com/post/2019/08/22/chrysanthemum-tran-vietnamese-american-poet-the-first-trans-woman-finalist-of-the-women-o |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525152732/https://www.chopsticksalley.com/post/2019/08/22/chrysanthemum-tran-vietnamese-american-poet-the-first-trans-woman-finalist-of-the-women-o |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date= |website=Chopsticks Alley |language=en}}

In 2019, Tran was awarded $25,000 to complete her first collection of poems and develop a poetry symposium in Wakefield, Rhode Island.{{Cite web |last=Barnett |first=Chris |date=2019-04-04 |title=SK writer wins $25,000 prize |url=https://patch.com/rhode-island/narragansett/sk-writer-wins-25-000-prize |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525153016/https://patch.com/rhode-island/narragansett/sk-writer-wins-25-000-prize |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Narragansett-South Kingstown, RI Patch |language=en}}

In 2022, she was featured in the PBS project, True Colors: LGBTQ+ Our Music, Our Stories.{{Citation |title=True Colors: LGBTQ+ Our Music, Our Stories |url=https://www.pbs.org/video/true-colors-in-concert-oldwlp/ |work=PBS |access-date=2023-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525153220/https://www.pbs.org/video/true-colors-in-concert-oldwlp/ |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}

According to The Simpson Center for the Humanities, Tran is currently working on "her new poetry manuscript, About Face, which dissects medical and legal definitions of sex to reveal often-contradictory histories of trans pathologies."{{Cite web |last=Jhingran |first=Nanya |title=On "Asian/American Ecologies of Trans Care" {{!}} Simpson Center for the Humanities |url=https://simpsoncenter.org/article/asianamerican-ecologies-trans-care |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=The Simpson Center for the Humanities}}

Early life

Tran grew up the child of refugees in a conservative, religious, predominantly-immigrant neighborhood in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Due to learning English as a second language and having a lisp and a stutter, Tran was put into speech therapy as a child.{{Cite web |last=Nagler |first=Brooke |date=2018 |title=Chrysanthemum Tran Reclaims Her Roots Through Poetry |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/25968/arts/chrysanthemum-tran/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525153355/https://chicagomaroon.com/25968/arts/chrysanthemum-tran/ |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Chicago Maroon}}

Tran's father was a photographer and her mother retouched glamor shots, which inspired Tran to pursue photography as a form of expression. Growing up, she wanted to be a fashion photographer. Tran's photography mentor, Paul Tran, helped her to communicate beyond the medium through connecting her to poetry.{{Cite web |last=Rodriguez |first=Caleb |date=2018-12-06 |title=Chrysanthemum Tran |url=https://beyondthesinglestory.wordpress.com/2018/12/06/chrysanthemum-tran/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525153643/https://beyondthesinglestory.wordpress.com/2018/12/06/chrysanthemum-tran/ |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Beyond the Single Story |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Gupta |first=Ananya |date=2018 |title=Chrysanthemum Tran, Performer, Poet, Teaching Artist |url=https://oberlinreview.org/16446/arts/chrysanthemum-tran-performer-poet-teaching-artist/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525153922/https://oberlinreview.org/16446/arts/chrysanthemum-tran-performer-poet-teaching-artist/ |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=The Oberlin Review}}

At age 18, Tran moved to Providence, Rhode Island, to attend Brown University. As a freshman at Brown, Tran involved herself in activism on campus, organizing students and activists against a lecture by NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who is known for his hyper-surveillance of Muslim people and for developing the stop-and-frisk policy. Tran represented Brown University at College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational for three years.{{Cite web |date=2013-10-30 |title=NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly shouted down at Brown University lecture |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/30/nypd-commissioner-ray-kelly-shouted-down-at-brown-university-lecture |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525154030/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/30/nypd-commissioner-ray-kelly-shouted-down-at-brown-university-lecture |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}

Career

= Anthem =

In 2018, Tran, aged 22, and Justice Gaines, aged 23, opened for Kit Yan in the show Queer Heartache, which impressed artistic producer Mark Lunsford, who saw their potential to carry their own show.{{Cite web |last=Guerra |first=Cristela |date=2019 |title=These Two Poets Of Color Reveal The Resilience, Joy And Messiness Of Being Trans |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/02/06/trans-poets-of-color-chrysanthemum-tran-justice-ameer-oberon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525155525/https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/02/06/trans-poets-of-color-chrysanthemum-tran-justice-ameer-oberon |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=WBUR |language=en}}

In 2019, Tran and Gaines were hired to star in and produce a spoken word show by the American Repertory Theater at the Oberon in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Together they created and headlined, Anthem, a show dedicated to humanizing transgender women in the arts and generally. WBUR called Tran and Gaines, "two of the most recognized trans poets of color on the local and national poetry scene". Tran and Ameer invited other artists, nearly all who identify as trans, queer, or non-binary, to join Anthem's performances. The collaboration was an effort to give back to the LGBTQ community and to incorporate more than two transgender perspectives.File:Miss Major in Pride 2014 SF.jpg

= Commentary on Stonewall =

Tran has written pieces on the Stonewall Uprising for them and The Nation, and has commented on Stonewall for a New York Times video. Tran argues that when Stonewall is discussed, the "lifelong care work of organizing and activism" of those involved is typically erased, especially the efforts of transgender women like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Miss Major Griffin Gracy.{{Cite news |last=Brockell |first=Gillian |date=2019-06-27 |title=The transgender women at Stonewall were pushed out of the gay rights movement. Now they are getting a statue in New York. |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/06/12/transgender-women-heart-stonewall-riots-are-getting-statue-new-york/ |access-date=2023-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525164005/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/06/12/transgender-women-heart-stonewall-riots-are-getting-statue-new-york/ |archive-date=2023-05-25 |issn=0190-8286}}

On Trans Day of Remembrance in Providence, Rhode Island, in 2017, Tran spoke about Stonewall and performed poetry with her longtime friend, poetry teammate, and Brown alumna, Justice Ameer Gaines. Gaines is a Black transgender women.{{Cite web |last=Ahlquist |first=Steve |date=2017-11-21 |title=The Trans Day of Remembrance celebrates history, mourns losses |url=https://upriseri.com/2017-11-20-trans-day-of-remembrance/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525160422/https://upriseri.com/2017-11-20-trans-day-of-remembrance/ |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=Uprise RI |language=en-US}}

= Mural =

In 2017, Brooklyn-based artist, poet, and filmmaker, Jess X Snow, painted a mural of Tran, in Rochester, New York at the annual WALL\THERAPY muralism festival. The 2017 festival prompt was to paint the best group or person improving the community. Snow and Tran attended Brown University together and later attended Rachel McKibbens' poetry retreat for women of color, The Pink Door, in 2016. The mural featured a quote from Tran's poem "Biological Woman", "I transcend biology / I'm supernova / an extraterrestrial gender / I drink all the water on Mars & rename that my blood." Snow said, "The magic of her words in the face of transphobia and misogyny is what directly inspired the mural." The piece is the first mural in the city to spotlight a person from a queer identity.{{Cite web |last=Rafferty |first=Rebecca |date=2017 |title=WALL\THERAPY 2017: Jess X Snow, Chrysanthemum Tran, and the Queer Mother Earth |url=https://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/ArtsBlog/archives/2017/07/31/wall-therapy-2017-jess-x-snow-and-the-queer-mother-earth |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525154152/https://www.roccitynews.com/ArtsBlog/archives/2017/07/31/wall-therapy-2017-jess-x-snow-and-the-queer-mother-earth |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=CITY Magazine |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Rafferty |first=Rebecca |date=2017 |title=WALL\THERAPY focuses on activism in 2017 festival |url=https://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/rochester/muralism-as-activism/Content?oid=3872897 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525154412/https://www.roccitynews.com/arts-entertainment/muralism-as-activism-3872897 |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=CITY Magazine |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Kaleidescope Collective, Wall Therapy, Rochester NY 2017 |url=https://www.jessxsnow.com/I-TRANSCEND-BIOLOGY |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525154635/https://www.jessxsnow.com/I-TRANSCEND-BIOLOGY |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Jess X Snow |language=en}}

= Poetry competitions =

By winning local grand slams, Tran earned herself spots at Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam, Feminine Empowerment Movement Slam (FEMS), Women of the World Poetry Slam (WoWPS), National Poetry Slam (NPS), and College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI)—more than once for the latter three competitions. She has performed on the final stages of Rustbelt and FEMS once, on teams that won the competitions. She's performed on the final stage of WoWPS twice, and has made it to the semi-finals at NPS twice and CUPSI three times.

= Online presence =

Known for her witty and critical commentary, Tran's tweets often went viral in 2016 and 2017.{{Cite web |date=2017-12-22 |title=Stock Images Of Bipolar Disorder Prove We Need Better Illustrations Of Mental Illness In Media |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/stock-photos-of-bipolar-disorder-prove-we-need-better-illustrations-of-mental-illness-in-media_uk_5a3cd789e4b025f99e16495b |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=HuffPost UK |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2023-05-25 |title=Solar Eclipse 2017: 20 funny memes ruling the internet |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/solar-eclipse-2017-funny-memes-ruling-the-internet-4807255/ |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=The Indian Express|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525180659/https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/solar-eclipse-2017-funny-memes-ruling-the-internet-4807255/ |archive-date=2023-05-25 }}{{Cite web |last= |date=2017-06-27 |title=10 tweets about 'Bachelorette' contestant Lee Garrett that deserve a retweet |url=https://acceptthisrose.com/2017/06/27/10-tweets-about-bachelorette-contestant-lee-garrett-that-deserve-a-retweet/ |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=Fansided |language=en-US}}

Works

= Shows =

Anthem, Oberon, 2019

= Essays =

"How Do You Create Community Out of a Rainbow of Difference?", The Nation, June 2019{{Cite news |last1=Gaines |first1=Justice |last2=Tran |first2=Chrysanthemum |date=2019-06-27 |title=How Do You Create Community Out of a Rainbow of Difference? |language=en-US |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/stonewall-sisterhood-chosen-communities/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525160151/https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/stonewall-sisterhood-chosen-communities/ |archive-date=2023-05-25 |issn=0027-8378}}
"When Remembering Stonewall, We Need To Listen to Those Who Were There", them., June 2018{{Cite web |date=2018-06-11 |title=When Remembering Stonewall, We Need To Listen to Those Who Were There |url=https://www.them.us/story/who-threw-the-first-brick-at-stonewall |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525155818/https://www.them.us/story/who-threw-the-first-brick-at-stonewall |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Them |language=en-US}}

= Poems =

"I Don't Even Like Sports", Poetry Foundation, 2022{{Cite web |date=2023-01-30 |title=Chrysanthemum Tran reads "I Don't Even Like Sports" |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/video/158181/chrysanthemum-tran-reads-i-don39t-even-like-sports |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525165317/https://www.poetryfoundation.org/video/158181/chrysanthemum-tran-reads-i-don39t-even-like-sports |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Poetry Foundation |language=en}}
"Biological Woman (After Maya Angelou)", Finals at Women of the World Poetry Slam, 2018{{Citation |title=Biological Woman (After Maya Angelou) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhKFnr9Te6c |work=2018 Women of the World Poetry Slam | date=11 July 2018 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525172902/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhKFnr9Te6c |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}
"Binge", Muzzle Magazine, June 2017{{Cite web |title=Binge |url=https://www.muzzlemagazine.com/chrysanthemum-tran.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525173329/https://www.muzzlemagazine.com/chrysanthemum-tran.html |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Muzzle Magazine |language=en}}
"Behold! A Spectacle", The Offing, February 2016{{Cite web |date=2016-02-24 |title=Two Micros |url=https://theoffingmag.com/micro/two-micros-by-chrysanthemum-tran/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525173532/https://theoffingmag.com/micro/two-micros-by-chrysanthemum-tran/ |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=The Offing |language=en-US}}
"This Poem Is For Us", National Poetry Slam Finals, 2016{{Citation |title=This Poem Is For Us |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZLzGTryX1s |work=2016 National Poetry Slam Finals | date=30 November 2016 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525173732/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZLzGTryX1s |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}
"On Using the Trans Panic Defense", The Offing, February 2016
"On (Not) Forgiving My Mother", Finals at Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam, 2016{{Citation |title=On (Not) Forgiving My Mother |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-snsLLr7nQ |work=Finals at Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam | date=9 May 2017 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525173936/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-snsLLr7nQ |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}
"Discovery (For Jennifer Laude)", Finals at Providence Poetry Slam, 2016{{Citation |title=Discovery (For Jennifer Laude) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaR_lzLW2LY |work=Finals at Providence Poetry Slam | date=8 June 2016 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525174206/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaR_lzLW2LY |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}
"Vampires", College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, 2016{{Citation |title=Vampires |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogWqjhxzjwc |work=College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational | date=29 June 2016 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525155123/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogWqjhxzjwc |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}
"Transplant", College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, 2016{{Citation |title=Transplant |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wbMug2cXrU |work=College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational | date=May 2016 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525174455/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wbMug2cXrU |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}
"Why I Never Reported My Rape", Women of the World Poetry Slam, 2016{{Citation |title=Why I Never Reported My Rape |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZFllMR-gME |work=Women of the World Poetry Slam | date=26 September 2016 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525170950/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZFllMR-gME |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}
"Cognates", Women of the World Poetry Slam, 2016{{Citation |title=Cognates |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjIijPxOLrI |work=Women of the World Poetry Slam | date=16 March 2016 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525170455/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjIijPxOLrI |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}
"I Had An Ultrasound", National Poetry Slam Semi-Finals, 2015{{Citation |title=Providence Poetry Slam |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh9wGrxoaks |work=National Poetry Slam Semi-Finals 2015 | date=21 January 2016 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525154949/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh9wGrxoaks |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}

= Anthologies =

"Ode to Enclaves", Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience, 2019{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1041767558 |title=Ink knows no borders : poems of the immigrant and refugee experience |date=2019 |others=Patrice Vecchione, Alyssa Raymond |isbn=978-1-60980-907-2 |location=New York |oclc=1041767558}}{{Cite web |last=Ryce |first=Walter |date=2019-03-28 |title=Poets wrestle with identity, ethnicity and borders in a book of poems. |url=https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/entertainment/art/poets-wrestle-with-identity-ethnicity-and-borders-in-a-book-of-poems/article_1cdd1668-50f1-11e9-a03d-6f2d39ee99ff.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525174709/https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/entertainment/art/poets-wrestle-with-identity-ethnicity-and-borders-in-a-book-of-poems/article_1cdd1668-50f1-11e9-a03d-6f2d39ee99ff.html |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=Monterey County Weekly |language=en}}
"On Using the Trans Panic Defense" & "On (Not) Forgiving My Mother", Bettering American Poetry Vol. 2, 2018{{Cite book |last1=King |first1=Amy |url= |title=Bettering American Poetry Volume 2 |last2=Tran |first2=Chrysanthemum |date=2017-09-25 |publisher=Bettering Books |isbn=978-0-692-97959-4 |editor-last=dodd |editor-first=jayy |language=English |editor-last2=Rankine |editor-first2=Camile |editor-last3=Leung |editor-first3=Muriel |editor-last4=Clark |editor-first4=Sarah |editor-last5=Wasson |editor-first5=Michael |editor-last6=Espinoza |editor-first6=Joshua Jennifer |editor-last7=Ramirez |editor-first7=Hector |editor-last8=Akbar |editor-first8=Kaveh}}

= Speaking and commentary =

"The Lunch Room Episode 16", American Repertory Theater, 2020{{Citation |title=Justice Ameer and Chrysanthemum Tran |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7P3Y8YndSA |work=The Lunch Room | date=19 January 2021 |volume=16 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525165000/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7P3Y8YndSA |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}
"Who Threw the First Brick at Stonewall? Let's Argue About It", The New York Times, 2019{{Cite news |last=O'Neill |first=Shane |date=2019-05-31 |title=Who Threw the First Brick at Stonewall? Let's Argue About It |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/us/first-brick-at-stonewall-lgbtq.html |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525155938/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/us/first-brick-at-stonewall-lgbtq.html |archive-date=2023-05-25 |issn=0362-4331}}
"Queering the Present", PanAsian Solidarity Coalition Spring Festival, 2018{{Citation |title="Queering the Present" with Chrysanthemum Tran |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H6lXQ18QU4 |work=Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture | date=23 May 2018 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525173239/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H6lXQ18QU4 |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}
"#WOCMakingHistory", We, Ceremony, 2018{{Citation |title=WOCMakingHistory with Sonia Erika, Amma Marfo, Chrysanthemum Tran |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gq-hGcHVz4 |work=We, Ceremony | date=9 July 2020 |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525163000/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gq-hGcHVz4 |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-25}}

Awards and honors

Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fund Fellow, Rhode Island Foundation, 2018{{Cite web |last=List |first=Madeleine |title=Their stories matter |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/entertainment/books/2019/02/22/25000-grants-will-help-three-rhode-island-women-keep-writing/5881365007/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525162610/https://www.providencejournal.com/story/entertainment/books/2019/02/22/25000-grants-will-help-three-rhode-island-women-keep-writing/5881365007/ |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=The Providence Journal |language=en-US}}
Poetry Slam Champion, Feminine Empowerment Movement Slam, 2017
Fellow, Pink Door, 2016
Best Poet & Best Poem, College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, 2016
Poetry Slam Champion, Rustbelt, 2016
Finalist, Women of the World Poetry Slam, 2016{{Cite web |date=2015-01-14 |title=Scores |url=https://wowps2016.wordpress.com/tournament/scores/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525154727/https://wowps2016.wordpress.com/tournament/scores/ |archive-date=2023-05-25 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Women of the World Poetry Slam |language=en}}
Pushing the Art Forward, College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, 2015