“I am a poet who belongs to a generation of Hmong American writers challenging ourselves to write from this place of absence,” writes 2016 Walt Whitman winner Mai Der Vang in her essay “Poetry as Homeland: Reflections on Hmong American Exile and a Literary Future,” part of the first installment of a new series on Poets.org featuring the work of Hmong American poets.
As part of the four-part series, Writing from the Absence: Voices of Hmong American Poets, Vang will feature a poem by and discussion with a Hmong American poet as a way to showcase their work and explore the themes that drive them to write.
Once a month through National Poetry Month, we will unveil the next part of the series. We begin this month with Vang’s essay, followed by a poem by and Q&A with Burlee Vang, founder of the Hmong American Writers’ Circle.