By Yamille Moss, MFA Creative Writing graduate student | Photo: Katie Xiong, by Jefferson Beavers
English major Katie Xiong remembers attending Fresno State’s Young Writers’ Conference (YWC) for its 40th anniversary in 2020 — on her laptop.
A junior then at University High, Xiong joined hundreds of Central California high school students and their teachers for a giant Zoom session, as the conference temporarily moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
That year, Xiong won the Provost’s Award, one of the top honors at the conference, for her story “A Life of Blood, Sweat & Tears: The Story of a Hmong Teen Bride.” The story is told in a documentary style — a Q&A between a young Hmong woman and a reporter, from the woman’s point of view.
Here’s an excerpt:
You always felt alone. In the Hmong culture when you become a bride, you were expected to be a woman, and at the age of 15 that’s pretty difficult. You had no freedom at all. But let me tell you, the biggest thing that us Hmong girls can do for each other is to not keep everything inside, but to listen and help each other.
The winning piece meant a lot to Xiong, as it allowed her to highlight a cultural experience she had witnessed firsthand.
“The piece was deeply personal, as it aimed to shed light on the social injustice of Hmong teen brides,” she said. “As a Hmong woman, this was an issue close to my heart, as I had known family members who had gone through this experience.”
During the conference livestream, Xiong was surprised to find out that she’d won a prize — the first she had ever won for her creative writing — and that the piece was published in the conference journal, Spectrum, also making it her first publication.
“As the awards video was coming to an end, I heard my name and the title of my piece being announced as the winner of the Provost’s Award,” Xiong said. “I remember running downstairs and telling my family, even though they didn’t fully understand the significance of the award. Although my parents have difficulty expressing their emotions, I could tell from their smiles and congratulations that they were proud of me.”
Xiong felt motivated. As a high school senior in 2021, she again attended the conference — also held online — and won the Fresno State Library Award for her poem “I, Too, Sing America,” which was inspired by poems written by Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman and Julia Alvarez. Again, her winning piece was published in Spectrum.
“What I found most memorable was the amazing community of students who all had a passion for creative writing,” Xiong said. “The conference provided an excellent platform for young writers to connect with like-minded individuals, learn from each other, and share their unique experiences and perspectives.”
This year’s Young Writers’ Conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24, inside the Satellite Student Union. The morning will start with an awards ceremony and keynote address by alumni author Navdeep Singh Dhillon, followed by afternoon writing workshops for registered participants.
Xiong, an English major who currently studies creative writing as an undergraduate at Fresno State, will now experience her first Young Writers’ Conference on campus.
The inspiration from attending the event in high school led Xiong to a spot this semester in Prof. Venita Blackburn’s English 166 Literary Editing and Publishing course, where she served on the YWC editorial board, reading submissions and making selections for Spectrum. She will also be volunteering on the conference’s event-day team.
Now that Xiong is on the other side of the submission process, she wonders what it felt like when her own pieces were reviewed by past English majors. She said she’s impressed by the talent of this year’s young writers, and she’s eagerly awaiting the conference.
“It’s amazing to see how they have turned their experiences into beautiful and comprehensible art,” she said. “Their ability to convey their emotions and life experiences through their writing is truly commendable.”
Xiong also expressed a deep appreciation for what the conference is able to encourage in students. In addition to her creative writing, Xiong has been active on campus as an officer with the Hmong Student Association (HmSA), as a reporter for the Asian Pacific Review, and as a student assistant for Fresno State’s office of University Marketing and Communications.
“Writing is a wonderful form of self-expression that can lead to a fulfilling and rewarding career, and it is my hope that the students will come to realize that there is a clear pathway to success for writers in the future,” Xiong said. “I strongly believe that this conference will instill in the students a sense of confidence and purpose and empower them to pursue their dreams with passion and determination.”
Xiong credits Jacyln Smith, her sophomore-year English teacher at University High, with introducing her to the Young Writers’ Conference and the world of creative writing.
Xiong said Smith’s teaching style and approach to literature have made a lasting impact on her writing and reading. Smith crafted an incredibly diverse reading list, Xiong said, including a wide range of topics and authors.
“Ms. Smith introduced us to books and authors that weren’t typically part of the curriculum,” Xiong said, such as the Marjane Satrapi graphic novel “Persepolis,” which explores a young Iranian woman’s coming of age during the Islamic Revolution.
It was Smith’s commitment to diversity and inclusion that expanded Xiong’s and her classmates’ literary horizons and encouraged them to pursue their interests through a “social injustice project,” which encouraged students to research and write about social justice issues they feel passionate about.
“Ms. Smith’s passion for teaching and her dedication to her students have left a lasting impression on me,” Xiong said. “I am grateful to have had such a phenomenal teacher who has inspired me to use my writing to amplify the voices of others.”
Smith, who now teaches English at Edison High School, remembers Xiong as always being willing to try new things in her writing. Smith said Xiong’s social justice writing project, where she interviewed her relatives about the Hmong cultural practice of young child marriages, showed a high level of empathy for herself and for others as she connected her own family’s story with the bigger story of women’s rights.
“Katie listened to feedback without ego,” Smith said. “She’s not afraid, as the author Natalie Goldberg says, to ‘go for the jugular’ in her writing, to note a sensitive or vulnerable place in her writing and spend some time there. Her willingness to go beyond her safety zone, in topic and form, set her apart from other young writers.”
Smith said she feels “immense pride” to have been at a specific place and time where she could support Xiong in her development as a young writer.
“When I think of the Young Writers’ Conference,” Smith said, “I think of celebrating local young writers’ voices and the power of writers learning in community.”
English Department communication specialist Jefferson Beavers contributed to this report.
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 