Necrology

Hoa Thanh Ngo

Jun. 2, 1971-Jul. 27, 2025

Visiting Assistant Professor of Literature and Creative Writing Hoa Thanh Ngo died on July 27, 2025, following an 18-month battle with leukemia. 

Born on June 2, 1971, in Hué, Vietnam, Hoa fled the country with his family and emigrated to Arkansas in 1975. After earning his undergraduate degree close to home at Hendrix College, he continued to pursue his passion for literature and writing at the University of Missouri-Columbia. There he not only completed his master’s degree and Ph.D., but also met his future wife, Tina Hall, associate dean of faculty and professor of English and creative writing. 

While working on his doctorate, Hoa joined the staff at The Missouri Review. He progressed from web editor (instituting the journal’s first web presence) to managing editor. On the side, he always had a novel percolating, usually in his favorite genre of high fantasy. After a few years, Hoa left his job to join Tina in Central New York. He devoted his time to composing short fiction and nonfiction stories, several of which were published in journals such as Stone Canoe, Thin Air Magazine, Six Sentences, Mud Luscious, and River Teeth. 

In 2013, Hoa began teaching in Hamilton’s Literature and Creative Writing Department, including classes on the history of the novel and dystopian fiction. He advised the Spoken Word Poetry Club, taking students to the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational in 2017 and 2018, and he arranged visiting writer events on campus and panels on editing literary journals. Hoa was the recipient of a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Fiction in 2021 and a National Endowment for the Humanities summer fellowship in 2005. 

One of his Hamilton colleagues described him as “a thoughtful and caring professor who takes seriously the desire … to create a student-centered classroom that revolves around discussion, collaboration, and exploration.” Another saw in Hoa a professor who taught students “not only how to be better writers but how to be better readers and critics.”

Many of his students commented on his ability to make them feel comfortable and eager to participate in class. Quiet and reserved himself, Hoa had a special knack for drawing these students out and giving them the confidence to share their writing with classmates. 

“His non-fiction workshop was one of my absolute favorite classes at Hamilton,” one student said, “not just because of the fun, expressive nature of writing personal narrative, but because the energy of the classroom was always warm, encouraging, and stimulating.” 

Before he became ill, Hoa loved mountain biking, hiking the Colorado 14ers, camping in the Adirondacks, was an avid practitioner of jiu jitsu, surfed whenever he could get to an ocean, loved snowboarding, and never missed a new Star Wars or superhero movie. 

In addition to his wife, Hoa Ngo is survived by their son, Tycho, his parents, three siblings, and nieces and nephews. 

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