I'm fortunate to have been able to work with Pa Dao Vang to get this essay published last week.
So many of us have families and friends in Minnesota, and we're worried for them while also feel proud of those who are speaking out and fighting back.
#Hmong #Minnesota #Minneapolis
Blue background, OPEN CALL: CREATIVE NONFICTION BOOKS. Split/Lip Press Reading Period October 1 - December 1, submit at splitlippress.submittable.com, 125 page minimum
Final few hours to get your nonfiction book submitted to @athenadixon.bsky.social and the crew! After 11:59pm CT, you'll have to wait until NEXT YEAR!!!
splitlippress.submittable.com/submit
Revising and editing some old essays so I went to find sharp and intense essays to inspire and push me. Read this piece in Brevity: In Chinese I Am Six Years Old brevitymag.com/current-issu...
🙌🏼 Hello to Silk & the team! Excited to be a part of this and can't wait to read. Thanks for having me!
Screenshot of the book "They Called Us Exceptional" by Prachi Gupta from the Libby App. Info shows spent reading, which is 5 hours, 19 minutes.
Heartbreaking. Bittersweet. Painful. This chapters-long letter of a book addressing a mother that she can no longer reach--despite the mother being alive--because of so many reasons...utterly full of regret and aching and pleas. This book honestly broke me.
Screenshot of the book "What My Bones Know" by Stephanie Foo from the Libby app. Info includes blurbs and info about time spent reading the book, which is 8 hours, 52 minutes.
Read this earlier this year based on a rec from a friend. Heartbreaking, painful to read at times, but the author's journalistic personal inquiry into complex trauma was enlightening and interesting.
Happy #AAPI / #AANHPI month 🌸
Grateful I got to work with poet, essayist, and dramaturg Cody Kour on this essay, thinking about this past #KhmerNewYear.
A reminder of what Spring 1975 was for many of our parents and elders, the good and the bad--but trying to remember the good, the blessings. 🐍
The book "Thoughts from Prison" with a subheading "A Hmong Boy's Journey from the Mountains of Laos to the American Urban Jungle" by the author "Chance Chang Vang."
Borrowed from a friend, I read this #Hmong book last week. Though not titled a memoir, it essentially is one, chronicling his young years w/ family escaping & then growing up in Minnesota. Then, desperate to achieve his dreams, he makes mistakes and ends up in state & federal prison.
A book standing against a shelf of books. The book reads, "House of Sticks: A Memoir" and the author, "Ly Tran."
Ly navigates life while helping her parents make a life in the '90s in Queens. With worsening eyesight & no support, it leads to other issues...
I had some questions, but overall, resonated with me: the shattering self-image, the anxiety from parents' expectations while understanding their trauma.
A book standing against a shelf of books. The book reads, "Ma and Me: A Memoir" with the author's name, "Putsata Reang."
Putsata Reang was born in Cambodia & raised in rural Oregon. I have an affinity for writers from rural places. This book resonated: growing up in white spaces, a particular protectiveness over mom, & having one's partner rejected by parents. Also, I learned more about Cambodian refugees' history.
Three memoirs by Kao Kalia Yang standing against a shelf of books. From left to right, the books are "The Latehomecomer," "The Song Poet," and "Where Rivers Part."
Kao Kalia Yang's memoirs. One of the first Hmong writers I read in college, she writes emotional & beautiful memoirs. Haven't read the last two in a while, but "Where Rivers Part" was heartbreaking. I had forgotten some things about the Hmong experience; this reminded me of stories from my parents.
Happy #AAPI / #AANHPI month 🌸 The beginning of this year, I made a goal to read more memoirs & essays from the community, specifically seeking out more SEA writers. If you're looking for more creative nonfiction in your life, consider these books & writings. (Will post daily-ish for May):
