Fresno author earns Pulitzer recognition for poetry about Hmong refugee experience

Assistant professor Mai Der Vang was wrapping up her class at Fresno State on Monday when she got the news her book of poetry, “Yellow Rain,” had been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

“My partner shared the news with me, and I was just blown away,” she said.

Vang, who was born and raised in Fresno, is the first Hmong-American to be recognized in the 106-year history of the Pulitzer’s arts and letters prizes, according to a news release from Fresno State. She teaches creative writing for the master’s program at the university.

“Yellow Rain” ultimately lost out in the poetry category to “frank: sonnets” by Diane Seuss.

Vang’s book uses archival research and declassified government documents to explore the trauma and biological warfare Hmong people faced after the Vietnam War. While the Hmong were fleeing Laos, many refugees witnessed “yellow rain” falling from the sky, which is said to have resulted in thousands of deaths.

The U.S. initially accused the Soviet Union of supplying a biological weapon, according to historical accounts. But U.S. scientists concluded from samples that the “yellow rain” was bee feces, dropped naturally. It’s still debated today.

Vang said in the news release that her ancestors would probably be surprised about the national recognition her book is getting.

“Maybe shocked,” she said, “that people in the United States care about what Hmong people endured as a result of the Secret War and yellow rain. I imagine they’d probably be proud as well, knowing their losses will not have been forgotten.”

Vang, whose parents are Hmong refugees, said she felt as though the recognition was validation for a decade of painful, emotional research.

“Documentary poetics became a powerful vehicle from which to disassemble and reassemble the complicated history behind yellow rain,” she said in the release.

Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, who has a background in literature and was previously a dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, praised Vang’s work.

“Professor Vang’s work constitutes an archeology of memory, strife, and the suffering brought by the Vietnam War,” Jiménez-Sandoval said. “Yet, amidst the dark plumes of smoke, charred earth, and rivers of despair, an almond tree blossoms, the Hmong alphabet is reinvented, and language becomes an eternal celebration of Hmong communities in America who hark back to their ancestral truths.”

The Pulitzer committee said Vang’s recognition was particularly notable given that the Hmong people had no formal written language until the 1950s, according to Fresno State’s news release.

The book has also been previously named a finalist for the PEN/Voelcker Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the California Book Award.

Vang, who earned degrees from UC Berkeley and Columbia University, said it means a lot to her to return to the place she grew up and work with students in the community.

The recognition means “the space in which our voices can be heard is slowly expanding,” she told the Education Lab.

“Also it means that poetry is a powerful force for reckoning with unrecognized histories like yellow rain — and more importantly, that Hmong losses will be remembered.”

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.

This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.