Kammala wannan jumla: An haife shi a Saigon, Kudancin Vietnam, Mong-Lan ya bar mahaifarta ta Vietnam a ranar ƙarshe ta
fitar da Saigon. Tsohon Stegner Fellow a Jami'ar Stanford, Fulbright Scholar, ta wallafa littattafai bakwai na shayari & zane-zane, littattafai uku, sun lashe kyaututtuka kamar kyautar Juniper da Pushcart Prize. An haɗa waƙoƙin a cikin tarin littattafai da yawa kamar "Mafi kyawun Littafin Waƙoƙin Amurka", da yawa Norton Anthologies, da "Littafin Waƙoƙi na Pushcart: Mafi Kyawun Waƙoƙi daga Shekaru 30 na Kyautar Pushcart". Ta kammala wani labari, tare da wani yanki a cikin "North American Review". Duk da yake ta girma kuma ta yi karatu a Amurka, ta zauna tsawon shekaru biyar zuwa shida a Japan (tana koyarwa a matsayin farfesa tare da Univ. na Maryland), kuma ta zauna shekaru da yawa a Argentina.