Kao Kalia Yang New Writer in Residence

The Creative Writing Program is thrilled to announce the Edelstein-Keller Writer in Residence for 2020-22 is Kao Kalia Yang. Yang is the author of The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir and The Song Poet. Her children’s book, A Map into the World, was published in 2019. All three books received Minnesota Book Awards. She is coeditor of the collection What God is Honored Here? Writings on Miscarriage and Infant Loss by and for Indigenous Women and Women of Color. The children's book The Shared Room was published in spring 2020. In the fall of 2020, Yang will publish two new books: a collective memoir about refugee lives titled Somewhere in the Unknown World and another book for children called The Most Beautiful Thing. Yang is a graduate of Carleton College and received her MFA from Columbia University.

The fellow will teach two courses a year, as well as advising creative writing student theses and participating in program events. This two-year fellowship rotates between genres, starting with nonfiction in fall 2020.

Welcome Kao Kalia Yang!