Born in
Guam, she obtained a
master's degree in
creative writing at the
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2003, and subsequently taught
English as a second language at the
College of Micronesia in Pohnpei. She later received a
PhD in
Pacific studies from the
Victoria University of Wellington in 2015. Her
PhD Thesis was titled "Menginpehn Lien Pohnpei: a poetic ethnography of urohs (Pohnpeian skirts)", and was supervised by
Teresia Teaiwa and Brian Diettrich. In May 2008, she published her first collection of poems,
My Urohs.
Samoan writer
Albert Wendt described her poetry as "refreshingly innovative and compelling, a new way of seeing ourselves in our islands, an important and influential addition to our literature" – meaning
Pacific Islander literature.
I-Kiribati poet
Teresia Teaiwa described it as "
ethnographic poetry", "lush with the languages and imagery of Pohnpei and Micronesia", "an exciting new contribution to Pacific literature". Samoan writer
Sia Figiel described her poetry as "disturbing and haunting, illuminating and tender", "woven from the violent threads of
postcolonialism, laced with patches of Island humour", "a powerful addition to Pacific Literature".
American poet
Mark Nowak also praised her work. Kihleng explained that the
urohs is "the quintessential dress of a Pohnpeian woman as a symbol of Pohnpeian women and Pohnpeian culture. I chose to title the collection
My Urohs [...] because [...] the essence of the collection as a whole [is] colorful, tragic, beautiful, colonized and indigenous all at the same time". Kihleng noted that, while
Polynesia and
Melanesia had made a notable impact on Pacific literature, Micronesia still appeared to be "invisible". According to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, "[m]uch of her work is about Pohnpeian identity and diaspora". The
Office of Insular Affairs, a branch of the United States government's Department of the Interior, describes her as "one of the most gifted young writers in the Pacific". == Published works ==