Written by: Soul Vang

Paperback, 98 pages, 6x9, 2024

ISBN: 978-1-64410-044-8

"An impressive collection of poems harnessing narrative elements and the power of telling, Soul Vang’s Song of the Cluster Bomblet is an ode to fatherhood and stories of displaced people. It is an ode to landscapes that serve as a bridge between time, an ode to mountains, valleys, and meadows of both today and of one’s memory. And above it all, a frayed yet unsevered love endures. As one of the earliest voices to pave the way for Hmong poets, Soul Vang’s work continues to forge courageously ahead." — Mai Der Vang, author of Yellow Rain

"In this lyrical collection, Vang maps the migration of Hmong families from Laos to Hawai‘i, California, and beyond. At the same time, he poignantly describes his experience as a refugee; as a soldier in the U.S. Army; and as a son, husband, and father. Throughout, there is a profound momentum that pulls us into the emotional depths of diaspora and belonging. Amidst all this movement, each poem becomes a hlaab nyas (a Hmong sling) that carries what we value most (children, seeds, memory, culture, hope), and each poem teaches us how to carry on." — Craig Santos Perez, author of from unincorporated territory [amot]

"Song of the Cluster Bomblet showcases a writer of agility and ability—it is a hybrid of lyrics, narratives, memoir pieces, some as light as feathers, others as dangerous as those cluster bomblets. The intimacy, humor and wisdom that flow from these texts engages readers. We need to know more about him, his community, his “Anchor Babies” who made him become the poet who can intensely examine his own subjectivity (as soldier, suitor, husband, father) with compassion and honesty. This collection is a testament to the power of language and of poetry to shape a vision of what is true and what can become truth." — Patricia Spears Jones, New York State Poet Laureate, author of The Beloved Community

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Soul Vang is the author of three collections of poetry: Of Tigers and Wars, Song of the Cluster Bomblet, and To Live Here.

Poet, educator, and U.S. Army veteran, Vang received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from California State University, Fresno, and is an editorial member of the Hmong American Writers’ Circle (HAWC).

Vang’s writing has appeared in Academy of American Poets (poets.org), Water-Stone Review, Abernathy Magazine, Asian American Literary Review, Fiction Attic Press, In the Grove, The Packinghouse Review, Southeast Asia Globe, and The New York Times, among others.

His awards and honors include the 2014 Imaginary Friend Press Poetry Prize and the 2015 Horizon Artist Award from the Fresno Arts Council.