by Linda Mork
Quick Summary
The sixth chapter of the statewide One Book program begins Monday, October 25 featuring Kao Kalia Yang's The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father.
One Book | One Minnesota is a statewide book club that invites Minnesotans of all ages to read a common title and come together virtually to enjoy, reflect, and discuss. We are excited to announce the sixth title for the program is The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father by Minnesota author Kao Kalia Yang.
From October 25 through December 19, Minnesotans are invited to read the featured book selection and will have access to reading guides and virtual book club discussions. Readers will be able to access the ebook and audiobook for free on Ebooks Minnesota for eight weeks.
In addition, all Minnesotans are invited to participate in a statewide discussion with the author:
Virtual Author Discussion, featuring Kao Kalia Yang
Thursday, December 9 | 7:00 p.m.
Free and open to the public | Registration required
About The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father
In the Hmong tradition, the song poet recounts the story of his people, their history and tragedies, joys and losses. He keeps the past alive, invokes the spirits and the homeland, and records courtships, births, weddings, and wishes. In The Song Poet, Kao Kalia Yang retells the life of her father, Bee Yang, the song poet―a Hmong refugee in Minnesota, driven from the mountains of Laos by America’s Secret War. Bee sings the life of his people through the war-torn jungle and a Thai refugee camp. The songs fall away in the cold, bitter world of a St. Paul housing project and on the factory floor, until, with the death of Bee’s mother, they leave him for good. But before they do, Bee, with his poetry, has burnished a life of poverty for his children, polishing their grim reality so that they might shine.
Learn more about One Book | One Minnesota here
