Ka Vang
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Ka Vang (1975- ) is a Hmong writer in the United States. Vang was born in Long Cheng, Laos, in April, 1975. A playwright, fiction writer and poet, she is a recipient of the Archibald Bush Artist Fellowship and several other fellowships. She performs frequently across the country and is actively involved in Asian American community issues.
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[edit] Early years
The daughter of a major in the Royal Lao Army and a shaman, Vang grew up in her early years in Thai refugee camps before resettling in the U.S. Midwest, with the majority of her formative years spent in the Twin Cities and the Frogtown quarter of St. Paul, Minnesota. She briefly attended the St. Agnes parochial school in the late 1980’s before attending the local public high school.
Vang was the oldest of seven children in her family. At an early age, she was known for her intense curiosity and intelligence and a tendency to challenge established norms of American and Hmong society.
Bi-culturalism was a significant issue in Vang's experience as she sought ways to succeed in both Hmong and American society, and this experience is frequently reflected in her later writing.
While issues of bi-culturalism are a part of the experiences of many Hmong refugees, Vang's approach is noteworthy for her consistent efforts to cultivate a more informed, global perspective of those issues, particularly through international travel.
[edit] Education
Vang attended the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, graduating with a Political Science degree with an emphasis in English Literature.
In 1994, Vang attended Xavier University, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the University of Minnesota's National Study Scholarship program, where she studied African American history and literature.
In 1997, Vang studied at King's College in London, England as part of the University of Minnesota's Study Abroad program. There she studied literature and theater, with a focus on the work of William Shakespeare.
[edit] Writing
Much of Vang's early writing years are highlighted by her work in journalism, where she was frequently one of the first Hmong reporters at different newspapers, including the Minnesota Daily, the Chicago Tribune, and the Pioneer Press.
One of her earliest awards for creative writing was the Minnesota Daily Fiction Writing Contest in 1994.
She received the 1996 Mark of Excellence Award for Feature writing from the Society of Professional Journalists and was a 1998 Fellow at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
Vang began experimenting with playwriting in the 2000s, starting as a 2001 and 2002 Many Voices Fellow at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis.
Her one-act play, DISCONNECT, was performed at the Playwrights' Center and later by Theatre Mu during the 2001 New Eyes Festival. DISCONNECT has continued to be performed across the country, particularly since its appearance in the Hmong American literary anthology, Bamboo Among The Oaks in 2002.
Another play, Dead Calling, was performed at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis in 2001. Dead Calling was one of the first Hmong mystery plays. The play was set in St. Paul and was noted by audiences for its frank depiction of interracial marriage in the Hmong community.
Her play, From Shadows to Light was be performed by Theater Mu in the fall of 2004 at the Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis. From Shadows to Light integrated contemporary international women's issues with traditional art forms from Asia, such as Indonesian shadow puppetry.
She is also featured the anthology, Charlie Chan is Dead 2:At Home In The World, the first Hmong writer to be featured in the series.
Among her most well-known stories is "How Ms. Pac Man Ruined My Gang Life." Vang's work frequently incorporate elements of Magic Realism from a Southeast Asian American perspective.
Vang's poetry has a distinctive style compared to other Hmong writers for its strong imagery and use of metaphor, typically fused with contemporary social concerns as well as pop culture and literary references from both Western and Hmong traditions.
Her poems are written with a strong sense of the oral tradition of poetry, and contemporary influences of spoken word and performance poetry.
Well-known examples of her poetry include the poem 'Extraordinary Hmong,' originally written in response to African American poet Maya Angelou's 'Phenomenal Woman' and Vang's poem 'Undiscovered Country' that includes references to Star Trek, Shakespeare's Hamlet and John Cougar Mellencamp.
Vang's work is known for its frank confrontation of sex and sexuality, race, culture and racism, but also for its surprising subtlety and elaborate, yet accessible constructions and dark humor.
As a writer, Vang has worked with many Asian American writers collectives in the Midwest, including the Hmong Writer's Group and Unbound! Asian Women Write! She has also worked collaboratively with writer/activists such as Bao Phi, Ed Bok Lee, Juliana Pegues, and Mai Neng Moua and others living in Minnesota.
Vang frequently travels abroad to collect folklore and contemporary life stories from Hmong expatriate communities around the world. She is particularly interested in the stories of Hmong women, whose perspective she feels is frequently underrepresented in community discussions.
[edit] Community life
Ka Vang has frequently gone on the record as being opposed to legislation such as the Hmong Marriage Bill in Minnesota that she felt did not adequately provide protection for the interests of young Hmong women.
Vang's professional career has included work with several non-profit organizations, frequently those committed to issues for refugee women and children, including the Southeast Asian Childcare Initiative, Parents In Community Action, Lao Family Community, Asian Media Access, Planned Parenthood, and brief consultant work for the National Youth Leadership Council.
In recent years, she has worked for Hamline University and the Office of the Chancellor for MNSCU (Minnesota State Colleges and Universities) a statewide coalition of educational institutions.
In addition to her work on diversity in higher education, she is currently a columnist for the Minnesota Women's Press and Hmong Tribune, and her work frequently appears in the Paj Ntaub Voice, one of the first Hmong literary journals in the world.
She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.
