On March 27, 2025, Winona State University hosted a Book Talk featuring the author Kao Kalia Yang. This Book Talk was a part of several readings called the Great River Reading Series, where acclaimed authors are brought to the Winona State campus to share their book and hold conversations with students.
Yang is a widely acclaimed, award winning author and has numerous books published. Many of her stories focus on her and her family’s experience as Hmong refugees. Her memoir, “The Latehomcomer,” which has been a previous Winona State Common book, details how her family moved between refugee camps in Loas and Thailand as a result of the Vietnam War. They moved to Minnesota, as refugees, while she was a child.
At the book talk, Yang read from her children’s book “The Rock in My Throat.” This book tells that story of her experience in America, as she struggled to share her voice in English. Her writing and accompanying artwork beautifully shared her experience as a selectively mute child while in school in Minnesota.
Additionally, Yang read from the prologue of her newest memoir, which is part of a three-memoir trilogy, “Where Rivers Part: A Story of My Mother’s Life.” Her prologue details her relationship with her mother, her grandmother and her own complications with motherhood. Throughout her reading, the quiet sniffles of many audience members could be heard as Yang spoke about her mother.
A second-year student that attended to talk, Ellie Brezinka, commented about how amazing it was to see Yang speak. She noted how Yang viewed the world brought more clarity to herself and what she thinks about self-love.
“Her voice and language was so rich and colorful, it was so similar to her writing style. It was insane.”
Brezinka also spoke about how she was excited to come to hear Yang speak and learn more about her own perspective on her work. She also detailed that it is especially important for Winona State to continue to hold events and experiences like this where students, faculty, and community members are able to see and hear from different perspectives.
According to the Minnesota Historical Society, there are about 66,000 Hmong living in Minnesota. The Twins Cities, where Yang and her family moved to, has the highest population of Hmong in America. Because there is such a high Hmong population in Minnesota it is even more important to have Hmong speakers on campus. This event was also significant so that Hmong students, of which several were in attendance, were able to see their identity reflected in campus events.
“Especially in college students can be separated from people they know but they can join clubs and organizations where they can have shared commonalities and have access to spaces that are meant for them.” Brezinka
After her reading, Yang started her discussion to answer questions and have a conversation with audience members. Her eloquently phrased answers mimicked her stylistically and captivating prose that is found in all of her writing. She spoke to what she felt it was to be Hmong American and how she continues to share her voice. She spoke about what she hopes for future generations of Hmong students and their ability to keep sharing their stories, and for other people that have experienced the effects of war and violence to be able to shar their stories.
To find out more about Kao Kahia Yang’s works you can visit her webpage here: https://kaokaliayang.com/
