Kao Kalia Yang

Kao Kalia Yang (1980-) was born in Thailand in the Ban Vanai Refugee Camp for Hmong refugees from Laos. She and her family immigrated to Minnesota in 1987. Yang attended Carleton College, graduating in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in American Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Cross-Cultural Studies. She earned an MFA from Columbia University in creative nonfiction writing. Yang has taught writing at several universities around the Midwest.

Though Yang struggled to learn English at first, she soon realized with the help of her older sister and her ninth grade English teacher that her skill lay in written language. As a result, Yang has published several nonfiction and memoir books along with a children’s book. Her memoir The Latehomecomer won a Minnesota Book Award in 2009, and Yang won a second Minnesota Book Award in 2017 for her book The Song Poet.

More information on Kao Kalia Yang from the Minnesota Writers Directory.