Emily Tan comes from generations of immigrants and refugees; and she’s traveled the globe in pursuit of a family history fragmented by war. In this episode, Emily speaks with poet Destiny Birdsong about her journey to reconnect with relatives both past and present. You’ll hear about Emily’s experiences abroad, her mother’s ongoing search for the siblings she lost while fleeing Cambodia, and Emily’s own search for a relationship with her older brother, who lives in the same city but might as well be on the other side of the world.

Credits:
Versify is a production of Nashville Public Radio and The Porch, which trains our poets and hosts our storytelling events. Editing for this episode came from WPLN’s Blake Farmer, Tony Gonzalez, and Anita Bugg, along with The Porch’s Susannah Felts. Production for this episode came from Tasha Lemley. The episode was written, hosted, and co-produced by Joshua Moore.

The music is by Podington Bear and Jahazzar — found through the free music archive.

The show is distributed by PRX.

The story and poem were recorded by Sean Clark at SNAP Community Center.