Over the years, one of the Hmong poets whose work I've consistently and deeply respected from his appearances in the Paj Ntaub Voice and Bamboo Among the Oaks is Soul Choj Vang, who really raises the bar for our expectations of modern Hmong poetry.
He's now got a blog over at http://hmongpoet.blogspot.com and if you've got any interest in Hmong American poetry, you should stop in. It's been a little while since he's last added some work, but hopefully he'll be updating it soon.
I personally consider Soul Vang one of the essential poets to read to get a sense of the California Hmong approach to poetry, right along with Burlee Vang at http://burlee.blogspot.com
Two other young Hmong writers from Fresno whose work I'm enjoying seeing these days include Andre Yang at http://andreyang.blogspot.com, and Abel Vang at http://www.myspace.com/abelvang.
Although Abel doesn't have a lot of his poetry up at the moment, his material that he has submitted in the past to Paj Ntaub Voice has always been distinctive and memorable, and hopefully it won't be too long before more of his poetic work becomes available. (hint, hint.)
Renee Ya at http://www.reneeya.com is showing some promise and tremendous enthusiasm as well with her new website, where she's sharing a number of poems and works in progress in a variety of mediums.
http://www.myspace.com/the_hawc is the homepage for the Hmong American Writer's Circle, and while they're not the only group out there, they are drawing together some great young writers and producing some very interesting material that is usually something to look forward to.
As always, I'm particularly interested in hearing about new Hmong and Lao writers and their websites across the country, and if you've got any suggestions, tell us about them!
Pos Moua, author of Where the Torches Are Burning, is from Central California.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lee- but do you have a blog or website for him, besides the Swan Scythe site? :) (hint, hint, Pos.)
ReplyDeletei don't think he has one
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