S4 Ep. 16: Making It New: Michael Kleber-Diggs and Kao Kalia Yang on How Minnesota's Famed Literary Scene is Reacting to Racial Injustice at Home

Poet Michael Kleber-Diggs and memoirist Kao Kalia Yang join co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss Minnesota’s complex history with immigrants, as well as how the Twin Cities’ literary scene is responding in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. First, Kleber-Diggs reads from his forthcoming debut poetry collection, Worldly Things, and talks about being a Black poet in Minnesota. Then, Yang reflects on her experience entering the literary community as a Hmong refugee, and reads from her new book, Somewhere in the Unknown World: A Collective Refugee Memoir. 

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video excerpts from our interviews at LitHub’s Virtual Book Channel and Fiction/Non/Fiction’s YouTube Channel, and don't miss our brand-new website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Andrea Tudhope.

Selected readings:

Michael Kleber-Diggs

• Worldly Things
• There’s a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis edited by Tracy K. Smith and John Freeman
• “Letter From St. Paul: On the Complex Flavors of Black Joy,” Literary Hub
• You. Are. Not. Welcome. Here. Being Black in Minnesota | Essay Minnesota Reformer

Kao Kalia Yang

• Somewhere in the Unknown World
• The Latehomecomer
• The Song Poet 
• A Map Into The World
• The Shared Room
• The Most Beautiful Thing
• What God Is Honored Here?: Writings on Miscarriage and Infant Loss by and for Native Women and Women of Color  co-edited with Shannon Gibney

Others:

• The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
• Walter Mondale, Ex-Vice President Under Jimmy Carter, Dies at 93, The New York Times
• The Center for Victims of Torture
• The Advocates for Human Rights
• ‘These People Aren’t Coming From Norway’: Refugees in a Minnesota City Face a Backlash
• Refugenius/Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices