By: Julian Reynoso, Contributor
Canisius’ Contemporary Writer Series invited author Kao Kalia Yang to come and speak to students and faculty on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 29, in Grupp.
Yang has been nominated for several awards for her works with her book “The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir” which won a Minnesota Book Award.
Yang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and came to America when she was six years old. Her family are of Hmong descent and she has incorporated this aspect of her life into many of her works such as “The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father” and “Where Rivers Part: A Story of My Mother's Life” which tell her parents’ stories. She graduated from Carleton College with her B.A. and got her MFA in creative nonfiction writing from Columbia.
The event began with Dr. Cochrane introducing Yang, listing some of her works, and the awards she’s been nominated for and won.
Once Yang stepped up to the podium, she gave her greeting, and then began to read from her book, “The Rock in My Throat,” to the audience with a projector showing the illustrations from the picture book. She gave more insight into the book after she finished reading it for everybody, explaining why she chose to write it.
Afterwards, she read a section from “Where Rivers Part: A Story of My Mother's Life” where her mother made the decision to leave her life behind to get married to her father in a time of war.
Following her readings, Yang began answering questions. Once the time for questions was over, she stayed after for book signing, and attendees could also purchase some of her collection of published books.
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