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XIA BOOKS Grand Opening
Thu, September 4 - Sat, September 6
Join us at our Bookstore Grand Opening this September!
More than just a bookstore, cafe & gallery, we’re a hub for community, connection, and change. Every drink poured and every story shared in this space, supports our mission. With free family friendly activities, an amazing line up of authors panel, an open mic session, and signature author-inspired drinks, we will make sure you come for the vibes and stay for the impact.
For more information about the agenda, keeps scrolling down!
upcoming events
upcoming events
Soft Opening: Small Business Networking Power Hour
Thursday, September 4, 2025 | 7 - 8 AM
XIA Books, Café & Gallery
422 University Ave W Ste 14, St Paul, MN 55103
Free | RSVP
This intimate soft opening is dedicated to creating space for small business owners and entrepreneurs like you.
Join us bright and early for a light breakfast, and a Power Hour of networking designed to energize your day and strengthen community connections.
7:00 AM - Opening Remarks
7:05 AM - Kaolee Yang Motivational Reading
7:30 AM - Networking
7:55 AM - Closing remarks
RSVP below to help us with a head count for Breakfast and Name Tags
Soft Opening: Family & Friends
Friday, September 5, 2025 | 6 - 7:30 PM
XIA Books, Café & Gallery
422 University Ave W Ste 14, St Paul, MN 55103
Free | RSVP
This soft opening is all about family, fun, and connections:
• Craft activities for kids
• Staff-led readings of our favorite children’s books
• A chance to explore our new space, enjoy a cozy drink, and connect with loved ones
6:00 PM - Opening Remarks
6:15 PM - Staff Favorite Readings
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Alex: The Little Prince, in French
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Bao: Ib, Ob, Peb
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Lisa: Meynuam Plas, Little Owl
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Jenni: Coming Soon
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Ngan: Today's the Day and My Footprints
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Npaus Baim: The Most Beautiful Thing
7:00 PM - Continue with kid activities
7:30 PM - Closing Remarks
This gathering is our way of saying thank you for supporting us on this journey — and letting you be among the first to experience the bookstore.
XIA Books Grand Opening
Saturday, September 6, 2025 | 1 - 3 PM
XIA Books, Café & Gallery
422 University Ave W Ste 14, St Paul, MN 55103
Free | RSVP
At XIA Books, Cafe & Gallery, every purchase fuels our mission. As a nonprofit space created by the Asian Economic Development Association (AEDA), 100% of our proceeds support youth programs, literacy initiatives, etc. When you enjoy a cafe drink or pick up a book here, you're investing in real change.
Join our grand opening this Saturday and experience the literature space. With free family friendly activities, an amazing line up of authors panel, an open mic session, and signature author-inspired drinks, we will make sure you come for the vibes and stay for the impact.
Grand Opening Event
12:50 PM - Opening Remarks
1:00 PM - Author Panel
2:00 PM - Intermission & Book Signings
2:30 PM - Literary Open Mic
3:55 PM - Event Closing Remarks
4:00 - 5:00 PM - Extended Bookstore Hours
author panel line up
upcoming events
May Lee-Yang
Panel Talk Emcee
May Lee-Yang (she/her) is a writer, performer, filmmaker, and producer. She is also the Board Chair of AEDA. Her theater-based works include The Korean Drama Addict’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity and Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman. Along with her husband, she wrote and produced a comedic web series called Hmong Organization. She is a co-founder of Funny Asian Women Kollective (FAWK).
You can purchase May's social card game Clapback at the XIA Bookstore.
Kao Kalia Yang
Public Speaker | Author | Teacher
Kao Kalia Yang is a Hmong American teacher, speaker, and writer. Her work crosses audiences and genres.
She is the award-winning author of the memoirs The Latehomecomer, The Song Poet, Somewhere in the Unknown World, and Where Rivers Part. Yang co-edited the groundbreaking book, What God is Honored Here?: Writings on Miscarriage and Infant Loss By and For Native Women and Women of Color. She is a librettist for The Song Poet Opera (commissioned by Minnesota Opera).
Her children’s books, A Map into the World, The Most Beautiful Thing, The Shared Room, Yang Warriors, From the Tops of the Trees, The Rock in My Throat, and Caged center Hmong children and families who live in our world, who dream, hurt, and hope in it. Yang’s middle-grade debut fiction, The Diamond Explorer, contends with the narratives we are given and the ones we give.
Trung Le Nguyen
Cartoonist | Artist | Writer
Trung Le Capecchi-Nguyen (Trung Le Nguyen, professionally) is an award-winning Vietnamese American cartoonist, artist, and writer from Minnesota.
Trung’s first original graphic novel, The Magic Fish, was published in 2020 through Random House Graphic, an imprint of Penguin Random House. He has also contributed work both as an author and as an artist for a variety of comics publishers, including DC Comics, Oni Press, Boom! Studios, Image Comics, and Marvel.
Trung has been nominated for an Eisner, a prize at Angoulême (France), a GLAAD award, and has won two Harvey Awards and a Romics (Italy). Trung has also contributed work for DC Comics, Oni Press, Boom! Studios, Image Comics, and Marvel.
He currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raises a small flock of very spoiled hens.
Sun Yung Shin
Author | Editor | Cultural Worker
신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin is an award-winning author of thirteen books for adults and children. She is a 2026 McKnight Foundation Fellow in Creative Prose and has received fellowships and grants from the Bush Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, MacDowell, and elsewhere. She is the editor of three essay anthologies including A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota. Her next picture book Revolutions are Made of Love: The Story of Grace Lee Boggs & James Boggs, with Mélina Mangal and Leslie Barlow, will be published in Fall 2025, and her prose book Heart Eater: A Memoir of Immigration is forthcoming in 2026. More at sunyungshin.com
Author | Cultural Producer
Saymoukda is a Lao-American playwright whose work has been presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (NY), Theater Mu (MN), Lower Depth Theater (LA), Asian Improv Arts (IL), and elsewhere. In her first children’s book of the same name, Vongsay reveals glimpses into her childhood as a young Lao girl navigating America with her displaced family. Touching on universal and present topics like refugee experiences, class, and family, the story connects with children and adults of all ages. Although the book was released 2018, its inception spans even farther.