Mai Neng Moua is a refugee from Laos and came to the United States in 1981.  She is a writer spinning tales of what it means to be Hmong in America.  Her memoir, The Bride Price: A Hmong Wedding Story, was published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press in March 2017.  She is the founder of Paj Ntaub Voice Hmoob Literary Journal and editor of the first Hmong American anthology Bamboo Among the Oaks: Contemporary Writing by Hmong-Americans.  Her artistic awards include the Bush Artists Fellowship, the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant, the Jerome Travel Grant, and the Loft Literary Center’s Mentor Series.  She has taught creative writing to youth through the Jane Addams School for Democracy, COMPAS, and Success Beyond the Classroom.  She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two girls.