Vi Khi Nao was born in Long Khanh, Vietnam. She holds an MFA in fiction from Brown University, where she received the John Hawkes and Feldman Prizes in fiction and the Kim Ann Arstark Memorial Awards in poetry. Her work includes poetry, fiction, film and cross-genre collaboration. She is the author of two novellas, Swans in Half-Mourning and The Vanishing Point of Desire. Her collection "The Old Philosopher" was the winner of the 2015 Nightboat Poetry Prize. Vi lives in Iowa City, Iowa.