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Souvankham Thammavongsa

Biography

Souvankham Thammavongsa

Souvankham Thammavongsa was born in the Lao refugee camp in Nong Khai, Thailand, and was raised and educated in Toronto. She is the award-winning author of four books of poetry, and her fiction has appeared in Harper’s, Granta, the Paris Review, Ploughshares, Best American Nonrequired Reading 2018, and the O. Henry Prize Stories 2019.

Souvankham Thammavongsa

Books by Souvankham Thammavongsa

by Souvankham Thammavongsa - Fiction, Short Stories

A failed boxer painting nails at the local salon. A woman plucking feathers at a chicken processing plant. A housewife learning English from daytime soap operas. A mother teaching her daughter the art of worm harvesting. In her debut story collection, O. Henry Award winner Souvankham Thammavongsa focuses on characters struggling to make a living, illuminating their hopes, disappointments, love affairs, acts of defiance and, above all, their pursuit of a place to belong. In spare, intimate prose charged with emotional power and a sly wit, she paints an indelible portrait of watchful children, wounded men and restless women caught between cultures, languages and values.