McKenna Dutton
What makes a writer? Is it the number of words they write? The stories they tell? The number of rejections they get? I think writers are those courageous enough to proclaim that they are one. For S.Z. Putnam, her love for writing blossomed through reading. At the age of eight or nine, she had read almost the entirety of books in her house. Reading helped her feel seen, heard, and inspired. Witnessing others who achieved the dream of publishing made it seem possible for her.
S.Z. Putnam hopes to bring that same inspiration to the Hmong community of writers in Eau Claire. On May 6th at 2:00 PM, in partnership with the Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association, she will host “Kuv Yog Hmoob (I Am Hmong): Hmong Writers and Storytellers”, an event celebrating and showcasing Hmong writers and storytellers in our community and beyond. I recently had the chance to chat with S.Z. about writing, community, and the Kuv Yog Hmoob event.
McKenna Dutton: Can you share a bit about your background in writing?
S.Z Putnam: I was one of those kids who had a very active imagination. I absolutely loved reading. Anything I could read I was reading. I think I had read all the books in my house by the time I was eight or nine. I am a first generation born child of my parents here in the U.S. and I just realized that I would never pursue a career in journalism because I was never going to leave town. Because I could never leave my parents behind. Giving up writing is what I thought I needed to do to “grow up.” I’ve come full circle and I feel like writing is something that I was meant to do. I’ve always been passionate about it and what I’m hoping for is to show other young writers, or just any writer that may feel like they can’t have a voice in this space that they can. I want to help champion that and leave some footprints behind for them.”
MD: Tell me more about the structure of this event.
S.Z: I was a part of another event that I thought was amazing. We had a bunch of Chinese individuals that were here reading poetry and it was really in that space that I was really able to connect with so many of them. [BJ Hollars] said, “Why don’t we host something?” I just jumped on it because there’s something about wanting to connect with other individuals and kind of wanting to lead them. Because when I started writing again about two years ago, my biggest fear was: “It’s been so long. I haven’t written anything in so long. What if I’m not any good anymore? I’m not saying anything people want to hear. How do I judge myself amongst my peers?” It’s a terrifying thing to put your work out there and have people you know judge it much less strangers judge it. That for me was really huge and I’m just hoping that by hearing my story and how I felt about my own writing I hope it really gives them hope that they have words that need to be heard. That needs to be shared and it’s only through the sharing of our words as humans that we really can realize how much more similar we are than we are different.
MD: What is your intention for this event?
“I would love to showcase the talent we have in the Eau Claire area, you know, especially with the Hmong community. Because we are a people of folklore, stories, and everything in my culture has been passed through language forever.”
S.Z: I’m hoping to get writers out. I’m hoping that they see other writers like themselves. That they can see themselves as each of these writers come out and share either pieces of themselves or of other people. I just hope they feel inspired to write more or they bring a friend along who’s maybe a closeted writer or journals, and that that individual starts to do something. I would love to showcase the talent we have in the Eau Claire area, you know, especially with the Hmong community. Because we are a people of folklore, stories, and everything in my culture has been passed through language forever. Because our written language is fairly new, and they’re all in American letters, and they were never like that before because our language was destroyed. I know we have a lot of storytellers out there because our ancestors were storytellers. We just have to get them there.”
MD: What do you hope your audience gets out of this event?
S.Z: I tend to write about trauma, mental health, and healing. Those are things I touch on a lot because generational trauma is a huge thing. My parents grew up in wartime. They came to the U.S. with barely anything while carrying all these images of trauma with them. I just want their voices to be heard. I want the kids growing up who don’t think they are Hmong enough and don’t know if they are American enough, I want them to know that their voices are heard. And that we are just like them and there is compassion in this world. Even with so much division, there is so much love to be found. I would love to bridge that somehow and if I can do it with my writing then that’s how I’m going to do it. If I can inspire others to do it too, that would help me push this movement. I think it’s also so important for this community, which has a fairly large Hmong population, to know that there is beauty in being different and there is beauty in sharing different cultures, different viewpoints, and different words.
“Kuv Yog Hmoob (I Am Hmong): Hmong Writers And Storytellers” will take place on May 6th from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. at the Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association. Come and join to celebrate Hmong writers! For additional information about the event, click here!