Souvankham Thammavongsa

Souvankham Thammavongsa
Born1978 (age 47–48)
Nong Khai, Thailand
OccupationWriter
Writing career
Period2000s–present
Notable workHow to Pronounce Knife
Websitesouvankham-thammavongsa.com

Souvankham Thammavongsa is a Laotian-Canadian poet and author. In 2019, she won an O. Henry Award for her short story "Slingshot",[1] and in 2020 her short story collection How to Pronounce Knife won the Giller Prize.[2]

Early life and education

Thammavongsa was born in the Lao refugee camp in Nong Khai, Thailand, in 1978.[3] She and her parents were sponsored by a family in Canada when she was one year old.[4] She was raised and educated in Toronto, Ontario.[5] Thammavongsa studied at the University of Toronto, majoring in English literature.[6][7]

Career

Her first book, Small Arguments, won a ReLit Award in 2004.[6] Her second book, Found, was made into a short film by Paramita Nath.[8] Her third book, Light, won the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in 2014.[9] Her short story "How to Pronounce Knife" was a finalist for the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.[10] In 2016, two of her stories, "Mani Pedi" and "Paris", were longlisted for the Journey Prize.[11]

Her first short story collection, How to Pronounce Knife, was published in 2020.[12] In the book's fourteen stories, she draws upon her childhood as the daughter of Laotian immigrants to explore themes of foreignness and belonging.[13] Writer Kerryn Goldsworthy said of the stories that "their language is economical but they are emotional timebombs."[14] The book won the Giller Prize in November 2020.[2] In 2021, the book was awarded the Trillium Book Award[15] and was a finalist for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award.[16]

Thammavongsa was a judge for the 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize.[17] She was guest editor for Biblioasis' Best Canadian Poetry 2021 anthology[18] and in 2024 was the judge for the inaugural Montreal Fiction Prize.[19]

Her debut novel Pick a Colour won the 2025 Giller Prize.[20][21]

She is a creative writing mentor at the University of Toronto.[5]

Bibliography

Novels

Poetry collections

Edited anthologies

Short story collections

Poems

Year Title First published
2000 "The Weed Woman" Grain
2002 "Portrait of a Palm Closing" The Fiddlehead, no. 211
2003 "Water" Contemporary Verse 2, vol. 25 no. 3
"A Firefly" Ricepaper, vol. 8 no. 2
"Poem for the Rain" The Malahat Review, no. 142
"the weight of salt on palm" Prairie Fire, vol. 24, no. 4
2006 "The Turtle" dANDelion, vol. 32 no. 1
2007 "The Heart" This Magazine
2012 "Dream" The Fiddlehead, no. 252
2013 "Lightning Storm Seen From the Window of an Airplane" The Rusty Toque
"Perfect" Event, vol. 41 no. 3
"Colossal Squid" Windsor Review, vol. 46 no. 1
"The Fish in Mammoth Cave"
"A Sparkle-Scale Sunrise"
"Fie" Canadian Literature, no. 216
2014 "Birds, a Description of Them in the Sky" Contemporary Verse 2, vol. 37 no. 1
"Mountain Ash"
"Joule"
"North" The Goose, vol. 13 no. 1
"The Venus Flytrap"
2015 "We Have Always Lived With Mice" Hart House Review
"Pregnant" Room, vol. 38 no. 1
"Cluster" The Globe and Mail
"Gayatri" The Walrus

Short fiction

Year Title First published
2014 "Bitter Melon" Columbia
"Can I Have That One?" Grain, vol. 42 no. 1
2015 "Ewwrrrkk" Joyland
"Mani Pedi" The Puritan, no. 30
"Rice Paper" Ricepaper
"Chick-A-Chee!" Postcolonial Text, vol. 10 no. 3/4
"The Ajahn" This Magazine
"Charcoal" Prairie Fire
2016 "The School Bus Driver" Noon
2017 "How to Pronounce Knife" Granta, no. 141
2018 "Slingshot" Harper's Magazine
2019 "The Gas Station" The Paris Review, no. 228
2020 "Edge of the World" The Atlantic
2021 "Good-looking" The New Yorker, vol. 97 no. 2
2022 "Trash" The New Yorker
2024 "Bozo" The New Yorker
"Pick a Colour" The Walrus

References

  1. ↑ van Koeverden, Jane (May 17, 2019). "Canadians Alexander MacLeod, Souvankham Thammavongsa & n O. Henry Prize". CBC News. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  2. 1 2 Bresge, Adina (November 9, 2020). "Souvankham Thammavongsa wins Giller Prize for 'How to Pronounce Knife'". Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Souvankham Thammavongsa". Poetry In Voice. Canada Council for the Arts. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  4. ↑ McLaughlin, Stephen (June 23, 2011). "Into the Field: Souvankham Thammavongsa". Jacket2. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Souvankham Thammavo". Department of English. University of Toronto. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  6. 1 2 Boisseau, Peter (November 24, 2020). "Giller Prize winner found her confidence at the University of Toronto". Faculty of Arts & Science. University of Toronto. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  7. 1 2 Garmaise, Ariella (December 12, 2025). "Souvankham Thammavongsa Doesn't Mind If You're Jealous of Her Career". The Walrus. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  8. ↑ Mills-Fenn, Quinn (September 17, 2014). "An Interview with Souvankham Thammavongsa". Contemporary Verse 2. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Trillium Book Award Winners". Ontario Creates. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  10. ↑ "2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Shortlist". Commonwealth Foundation. March 31, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Journey Prize longlists Souvankham Thammavongsa twice". Lao American Review. October 15, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  12. ↑ "47 works of Canadian fiction to watch for in spring 2020". CBC Books. February 5, 2020.
  13. ↑ Channing, Cornelia (April 23, 2020). "Laughter as a Shield: An Interview with Souvankham Thammavongsa". The Paris Review. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  14. ↑ Goldsworthy, Kerryn (August 21, 2020). "Fiction reviews: How to Pronounce Knife and three other titles". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Souvankham Thammavongsa wins $20K Trillium Book Award for How to Pronounce Knife". CBC Books. June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  16. ↑ Qiao, Vicky (May 28, 2021). "Jack Wang wins $10K Danuta Gleed Literary Award for best first short story collection for We Two Alone". CBC Books.
  17. ↑ "2021 Judges". Griffin Poetry Prize. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  18. 1 2 "Best Canadian Poetry 2021". Biblioasis. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Toronto-based writer Sabrina Fielding named winner of inaugural Montreal Fiction Prize". CBC Books. July 19, 2024.
  20. ↑ Wheeler, Brad (November 17, 2025). "Souvankham Thammavongsa wins 2025 Giller Prize for debut novel Pick a Colour". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Souvankham Thammavongsa wins the $100K Giller Prize for novel Pick a Colour". CBC News. November 17, 2025.
  22. ↑ "Pick a Colour by Souvankham Thammavongsa". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Souvankham Thammavongsa presents Small Arguments at York". YFile. March 2, 2006. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Found from Souvankham Thammavongsa". booksellers.ca. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  25. ↑ Wang, Phoebe. "'That Thing to Have': A Review of Souvankham Thammavongsa's Light". THE PURITAN. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Cluster". CBC Books. January 24, 2019.
  27. ↑ "How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
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