Yang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand but Minnesota became her first true home. She is a graduate of Carleton College and earned a master’s degree in Creative Non-Fiction Writing from Columbia University. She is the co-founder of Words Wanted, an agency dedicated to helping immigrants with writing, translating, and business services. She has also released a documentary film, The Place Where We Were Born, which describes the experiences of Hmong American refugees.

Details will follow about a pending author visit in late September and will be available at the UICHR website, www.uichr.org. Community discussion forums will also be listed on the website as those arrangements are made. For more information about One Community, One Book and the 2012 project, contact Joan Nashelsky at joan-nashelsky@uiowa.edu.