All posts tagged: Hmong American

Upcoming Event: Hmong-Lao/Lao-Hmong Friendship Play

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In their latest upcoming play, Minnesota’s own local playwrights and BFFs, Saymoukda Vongsay and May Lee-Yang, share the true story of  the  lively experiences their Lao/Hmong Hmong/Lao friendship. Check out details below: Hmong-Lao Friendship Play Hmong-Lao Friendship Play/Lao-Hmong Friendship Play, is a collaboratively researched, written, and performed piece by playwrights, performing artists, foodies, and real-life BFFs May Lee-Yang and Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay. Hmong-Lao Friendship Play/Lao-Hmong Friendship Play explores the connections between the Hmong and Lao communities through stories, humor, hot Asian men, and popular culture. Co-presented with Lazy Hmong Woman Productions and directed by Scotty Gunderson, Hmong-Lao Friendship Play/Lao-Hmong Friendship Play explores cultural relativism between the Hmong and the Lao and builds cross-cultural understanding, connections, and friendships through humor, joy, and shared stories. With only three performances (September 17-19), you don’t want to miss Hmong-Lao Friendship Play/Lao-Hmong Friendship Play. —     TICKETS Tickets for Hmong-Lao Friendship Play/Lao-Hmong Friendship Play are on sale at IntermediaArts.org/box-office or by calling 612.871.4444 Admission to VisibiliT is sliding scale; $3 per person suggested. WHEN/WHERE Hmong-Lao Friendship Play DATES September …

On the Page: The Artivism of Kao Kalia Yang

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As I scrambled into Second Moon Coffee Café, I immediately recognized the small and poised Kalia. The award-winning writer was hovering over a book next to a stash of colorful pens and of course, a  cup of coffee she already downed. A local favorite in the literary community and a nationally acclaimed author of The Latehomecomer, I sat down for a chat with Kalia on her latest projects, community activism and what it means to be a Hmong woman writer. As an ‘artivist’, Kalia drives social change the best way she knows how, through her craft of writing. “I write from a desperate urgency. Not from conviction. I feel like if I don’t write, I don’t have a sense of self.” With strength in her prose, Kalia speaks volumes as a writer in need of sharing, listening and constantly wondering. “On the page, I feel like I’m coming home.” Let’s start off with what everyone’s talking about: the Radiolab debacle. Thousands of people have poured out in support of you. What was the feedback like? What …