Ka Vang - Writing

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 St. Paul Pioneer Press.

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 Theater Mu during the 2001 New Eyes Festival. DISCONNECT has continued to be performed across the country including New York City, 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 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.

In 2008, Vang's writings were published in two bestselling anthologies. The essay titled, Butterfly Cycles, was published in "Riding Shotgun:Women Write about their Mothers," by Borealis Press in April and the short story, Meet Mr. Krenshaw, was published in "Haunted Hearths and Sapphic Shades: Lesbian Ghost Stories" with Lethe Press in May.

"Riding Shotgun," was the bestselling local nonfiction book in Minnesota while "Haunted Hearths," was a bestseller in the United Kingdom.

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.

In 2009, she was featured in the book, "Hmong History Makers," published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.