On Oct. 30, Yia Vang, author of  “In Yer’s Kitchen: Memoir of a Hmong Daughter” and Stockton native, held a reading and signing of her book in the Dawn Mabalon Forum.  

Vang’s book is a memoir that examines the relationship between her and her mother through the medium of food. Along the way, Vang talks about history, culture and generational divides.

“There are a lot of different dynamics and relationships in [the book], from cooking to mother and daughter to culture,” said Vang at the start of the event.

Vang spoke heavily about the experience of writing with English as a second language, highlighting not only the struggle of being understood but also of finding motivation

Vang, who immigrated to the United States from Thailand as a baby, always wanted to be a writer or poet. However, as an ESL speaker whose parents spoke exclusively Hmong, English remained a challenge.

“The only thing was that, even though I loved writing, I was intimidated by English,” said Vang. “It was just something I never quite grasped.”

This discomfort with English led Vang to only write privately and avoid English in academics, never taking English courses past her prerequisites.  

“It reflected to me my own limitations,” said Vang.

Compounding Vang’s discomfort with English was a fear that nobody would want to read what she would write.

As a child, she read “Sweet Valley High” and “Hello God, Are You There It’s Me Margaret,”. These books depicted a life that differed great from her own. “I read these books as a way to escape my life” said Vang

“I didn’t see my life as something that people would want to read and learn about.” said Vang 

This mindset changed after Vang read “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros in her senior year of high school. She saw herself reflected in a book for the first time.

“Even though she’s Hispanic and I’m Hmong, the stories that she told were stories that I could relate to,” said Vang.

Vang’s own book is now used as a required text for several classes including ENG 49A Introduction to Creative Writing and ENGL C1000 Academic Reading and Writing.

Vang urged ESL writers to not deny their culture, but to embrace it.

“Your native tongue is the powerful story and English is how you share it,” said Vang. 

Students in the audience resonated with Vang’s experience both written and spoken.

Samantha Garcia, who is currently taking ENGL C1000 was excited by the opportunity to meet an author.

“It’s really cool in my opinion to see an author in person, to get her autograph, and get her insight on why she wrote [the book],” said Garcia.

Garcia also noted that the relationship between Vang and her mother in the book, which is strained by generational divides, was familiar.

“I have a good relationship with my mom, but sometimes we disagree,” said Garcia.