Mai Neng Moua

Mai Neng Moua (RPA: Maiv Neeb Moua, Pahawh: ; born May 5, 1974) is a Hmong-American writer and a founder of the Paj Ntaub Voice, a Hmong literary magazine. She is also the editor of the first anthology of Hmong American writers, Bamboo Among the Oaks.

Early life Moua was born in Laos. She has two brothers, one older and one younger.

Predominantly a creative non-fiction writer, she has been published in How do I Begin?, Where One Voice Ends, Another Begins, Healing by Heart, Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and We Are the Freedom People. Her literary 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. Moua was also a pivotal figure in the creation of the Hmong American Institute for Learning, a non-profit organization based in Minnesota that focused on Hmong oral histories, the literary arts and the continued publication of the Paj Ntaub Voice Hmoob Literary Journal.

Moua currently works for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development as a Rapid Response Specialist. Her previous jobs include being the program coordinator for the Kellogg Action Lab at Fieldstone Alliance and the public policy coordinator for The Institute for New Americans.

Moua has won a Bush Foundation Research Grant and was awarded an Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.

In 2017, Moua published The bride price : a Hmong wedding story, an autobiographical account of her cross-cultural wedding traditions and experiences.

Personal life Moua resides in Minnesota. She is married to Blong Yang. They have two daughters.