Mong-Lan

Career

Mộng-Lan has published numerous books of poetry: Song of the Cicadas (2001), Why is the Edge Always Windy (2005), Tango, Tangoing (2008), Force of the Heart (2011), One Thousand Minds Brimming (2014), and Dusk Aflame (2017). She has also published three chapbooks: Love Poem to Tofu & Other Poems (2007), Love Poem to Ginger & Other Poems (2012), and Tone of Water in a Half-Filled Glass (2018). Her work has also been anthologized in numerous collections, including The Best American Poetry and The Pushcart Prize Anthology, among others. American poet Robert Creeley called Mộng-Lan "a remarkably accomplished poet", noting that "her poems are deft, extremely graceful in the way words move, and in the cadence that carries them. One is moved by the articulate character of 'things seen,' the subtle shifting of images, and the quiet intensity of their information. Clearly she is a master of the art."

In addition to writing poetry, Mộng-Lan is a musician, singer, and composer. She has released 10 albums, which include works of jazz piano, spoken word poetry, and singing and playing tangos on guitar. She has performed at universities, cultural organizations, clubs and cabarets.

Mộng-Lan has taught at the University of Arizona, Stanford University, the Dallas Museum of Art, the San Diego State University Writers' Conference, in the Asian Division of the University of Maryland University College in Tokyo, and the Jung Center of Houston.

Awards and honors Mộng-Lan received a Dean's Master of Fine Arts Fellowship from the University of Arizona (1999-2000), a Dr. Muriel Pollia Summer Fellowship in Poetry (2001) and a Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University (2000-2002), and completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Vietnam (2002). She was also the inaugural Visual Artist and Poet in Residence at the Dallas Museum of Art, which she received through a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, as well as a Le Chateau de Lavigny International Writer in Residence in Lavigny, Switzerland (summer 2000). Her poetry has been included in The Best American Poetry 2003 and Pushcart Book of Poetry: Best Poems from 30 Years of the Pushcart Prize (2006). Song of the Cicadas Great Lakes Colleges Association's New Writers Awards for Poetry Winner Books

Chapbooks

Art exhibitions Mộng-Lan has had shows of her artwork and tango drawings and paintings in numerous public exhibitions in the U.S.