Theo LeGro was a queer Vietnamese-American poet who lived and wrote in Brooklyn. Born in 1988, they built a body of work that was exacting, compassionate, and utterly singular — poems that lived in the body, in history, in the long space between what we inherit and what we choose.
A Kundiman Mentorship Lab Fellow and Kundiman Retreat Fellow, they were one of the most vital voices in contemporary Asian American poetry. Their work appeared in the country's best literary journals and earned nominations for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best New Poets.
They passed away in March 2026, after a battle with breast cancer. They left behind their debut collection, a community of writers who loved them fiercely, and words that will not age.
"…navigates a history that resists blame, that resists anger, but rather leans into what could have been — a life not marred by disease."
Kundiman, In Memory of Theo LeGro
