One Read for Racial Justice author Kao Kalia Yang to speak at St. Kate’s on Oct. 29

Twin Cities-based, Hmong American author Kao Kalia Yang will visit The O’Shaughnessy on October 29 as part of St. Catherine University’s 2026 One Read for Racial Justice. Yang will discuss her book, Somewhere in the Unknown World: A Collective Refugee Memoir, in conversation with Emily Bright of MPR News. The conversation and Q&A will be followed by a book signing, with books available to purchase from St. Kate’s bookstore in the lobby. 

Somewhere in the Unknown World shares 14 powerful stories of refugees from around the world who now call the Twin Cities home. Minnesota has welcomed more refugees per capita than any other state — a tradition of welcome that is also central to St. Kate’s, whose founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, call for love of neighbor without distinction.

Yang is the award-winning author of the memoirs The Latehomecomer, The Song Poet, and Where Rivers Part. She co-edited the groundbreaking book What God is Honored Here?: Writings on Miscarriage and Infant Loss By and For Native Women and Women of Color. She is a librettist for The Song Poet opera, commissioned by Minnesota Opera. 

Yang is a recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award and seven Minnesota Book Awards. Her work has also been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts. She was The Minnesota Star Tribune’s 2024 Artist of the Year and holds an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Carleton College. Yang is a McKnight, Soros, and Guggenheim fellow.

The O’Shaughnessy event is a part of St. Kate’s One Read for Racial Justice initiative. One Read is an annual, collaborative, campus-wide project that seeks to raise awareness about racial justice issues, create opportunities for dialogue, and promote community. Each year, a book is chosen to be the basis for community discussion and events that delve deeper into the book’s contents and themes. One Read is led by the St. Kate’s library in collaboration with a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, and alumni across departments and disciplines. Learn more about One Read for Racial Justice.