The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father

This memoir chronicles the life of Kao Kalia Yang's father, Bee Yang, a Hmong refugee and song poet in Minnesota. In Hmong tradition, the song poet recounts his people's history, tragedies, joys, and losses, keeping the past alive and recording courtships, births, weddings, and wishes. Bee Yang was driven from the mountains of Laos by America's Secret War. Through his songs, he recounts his people's journey through the war-torn jungle and a Thai refugee camp. When his family settles in a St. Paul housing project and he works on factory floors, his songs gradually fade, finally leaving him entirely after his mother's death. Yet before they do, Bee uses his poetry to transform his family's poverty into something that shines for his children. This work won the 2017 Minnesota Book Award in Creative Nonfiction and was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. It follows Yang's earlier memoir, The Latehomecomer.