May Lee-Yang, also known as May Lee ( RPA: ''Mev Lis Yaj'',

Pahawh Pahawh Hmong ( RPA: Phaj hauj Hmoob , Pahawh: ; known also as ''Ntawv Pahawh, Ntawv Keeb, Ntawv Caub Fab, Ntawv Soob Lwj'') is an indigenous semi-syllabic script, invented in 1959 by Shong Lue Yang, to write two Hmong languages, Hmong Daw ''( ...

: '), is a Hmong American playwright, poet, prose writer, performance artist and community activist in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

, United States. She was born in

Ban Vinai Refugee Camp Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, officially the Ban Vinai Holding Center, was a refugee camp in Thailand from 1975 until 1992. Ban Vinai primarily housed highland people, especially Hmong, who fled communist rule in Laos. Ban Vinai had a maximum populat ...

in Thailand and moved to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

as a child with her family. She is also the executive director of the non-profit organization Hmong Arts Connection.

Theater

Her theater-based works include ''Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman'', ''Sia(b)'', ''Ten Reasons Why I'd Be a Bad Porn Star'', ''Stir-Fried Pop Culture'', and ''The Child's House''. Her work has been produced through

Mu Performing Arts Theater Mu, (Formerly Mu Performing Arts), located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is an Asian American arts organization in the Midwest, the second largest in the country. According to Mu's website, the company name "Mu" is "the Korean pronunciation ...

, the Center for Hmong Art and Talent (CHAT), Out North Theater, Kaotic Good Productions,

Intermedia Arts Twin Cities hip hop, also referred to as Minneapolis hip hop, is sub-genre of rap music that originates from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota. History Hip hop culture in the Twin Cities can be traced a ...

, and the

Minnesota Fringe Festival The Minnesota Fringe Festival is a performing arts festival held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, every summer, usually during the first two weeks in August. The eleven-day event, which features performing artists of many genres and dis ...

as well as toured to various locations around the Midwest.

Writing

Her writing has appeared in the '' Paj Ntaub Voice'' Hmong literary journal, ''The Saint Paul Almanac'' (Arcata Press), ''Cheers to Muses: Contemporary Works by Asian American Women'' (Asian American Women Association), ''To Sing Along the Way: Minnesota Women Poets From Pre-Territorial Days to the Present'' (New Rivers Press), ''Fiction on a Stick'' (Milkweed Editions) ''Unarmed'', the '' Bamboo Among the Oaks'' anthology (Borealis Press), ''Water~Stone Literary Review'' (Hamline University), ''Sounds In This House: An Anthology from the National Book Foundation Writing Camp'' (National Book Foundation", and ''Hmong Movement''. Text by Lee-Yang accompanies light box-mounted photography by

Pao Houa Her Pao Houa Her (born in 1982) is a Hmong-American photographer whose works are primarily centered around the history and lived experiences of the Hmong people. Her's photography consists of greenery and geographic images. She is also a professor a ...

at Hmongtown Marketplace, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Performance work

She was a member of the Hmong and Lao spoken word group, F.I.R.E. (Free Inspiring Rising Elements) and performed regularly at several Minnesota venues including the Fringe Festival, Intermedia Arts, Hmong Fest, Patrick’s Cabaret, the Loft Literary Center, and local universities and colleges. May Lee-Yang has also been an actress and performed for Pom Siab Hmoob Theatre (currently a part of the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent) in the play, ''Hmong Tapestry: Voices from the Cloth''. Venues for the play included schools, college campuses, conferences, and community sites throughout

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

from 1997 through 2001.

Selected awards

* Midwestern Voices and Vision Artist Residency administered through the

Alliance of Artists Communities The Alliance of Artists Communities is an international non-profit arts organization. Founded in 1991 following a pilot program and recommendation through the MacArthur Foundation, the organization is focused on advocacy, promotion, and cultiv ...

(2010) * Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant for Theater (2009) and Literature (2005) * National Performance Network Creation Fund Grant for Theater (2008) * Intermedia Arts/Jerome Foundation's Naked Stages Fellowship (2008) * Playwright Center Many Voices Fellowship (2008, 2002) * The Loft Literary Center's Mentorship Program in Creative Non-Fiction (2005) *

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

's Anna Augusta Von Helmholtz-Phelan Award for Creative Writing (2001)

References

External links

May Lee Yang official websiteMay Lee Yang and VISION article in Hmong TodayMay Lee Yang article in Hmong Times

3 Minute Egg Coverage of May Lee-Yang's work

TC Daily Planet Interviews May Lee-Yang about the Midwestern Voices and Visions Residency Award

Pioneer Press review of "Sia(b)"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee-Yang, May Hmong writers Living people Hmong activists American people of Hmong descent American writers of Hmong descent Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women writers