Souvankham Thammavongsa is a Laotian Canadian poet and short story writer. In 2019, she won an O. Henry Award for her short story, "Slingshot", which was published in ''
Harper's Magazine
''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
Giller Prize
The Giller Prize (known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize from 2005-2023) is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried co ...
.
Life and Career
Thammavongsa was born in the Lao refugee camp in Nong Khai, Thailand in 1978. She and her parents were sponsored by a family in Canada when she was one year old. She was raised and educated in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
.
Thammavongsa studied at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
, majoring in English. She has never taken an MFA course, and says that she has learned to write by reading. Some of her favorite authors are
Alice Munro
Alice Ann Munro ( ; ; 10 July 1931 – 13 May 2024) was a Canadian short story writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Her work tends to move forward and backward in time, with integrated short story cycles.
Munro's ...
, Carson McCullers,
Flannery O'Connor
Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries.
O'Connor was a Southern writer who of ...
, and Tennessee Williams.
Her first book, ''Small Arguments'', won a
ReLit Award The ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories."Three indie writers honoured by ReLit Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 19, 2007. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundla ...
in 2004. Her second book, ''Found'', was made into a short film by Paramita Nath. Her third book, ''Light'', won the
Trillium Book Award
The Trillium Book Award ( or ''Prix Trillium'') is an annual literary award presented to writers in Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Creates, a Crown agency (Ontario), Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, which is overseen by ...
for Poetry in 2014. Her short story "How to Pronounce Knife" was a finalist for the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize out of 4,000 entries. In 2016, two of her stories, "Mani Pedi" and "Paris," were in contention for the
Journey Prize
The Journey Prize (officially called The Writers' Trust of Canada McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize) is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by McClelland and Stewart and the Writers' Trust of Canada for the best short stories published b ...
.
Her first short story collection, '' How to Pronounce Knife'', was published in 2020."47 works of Canadian fiction to watch for in spring 2020"
CBC Books
CBC Arts () is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's diverse artistic communitie ...
, February 5, 2020. Australian literary critic
Kerryn Goldsworthy
Dr. Kerryn Lee Goldsworthy (born 14 May 1953) is an Australian freelance writer and former academic.
Life and career
Goldsworthy has edited four anthologies of Australian writing. She has also written many articles, essays and reviews.
She has ...
wrote of the stories that "their language is economical but they are emotional timebombs." In the book, she draws upon her childhood as the daughter of Laotian immigrants to tell fourteen stories, each an exploration of foreignness and belonging''.'' The book was a candidate for the Giller Prize, and won the award on November 9, 2020. In 2021, the book was awarded the $20,000 (Canadian)
Trillium Book Award
The Trillium Book Award ( or ''Prix Trillium'') is an annual literary award presented to writers in Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Creates, a Crown agency (Ontario), Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, which is overseen by ...
, and was a finalist for the
Danuta Gleed Literary Award
The Danuta Gleed Literary Award is a Canadian national literary prize, awarded since 1998. It recognizes the best debut short fiction collection by a Canadian author in English language. The annual prize was founded by John Gleed in honour of his ...
CBC Books
CBC Arts () is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's diverse artistic communitie ...
, May 28, 2021.
Thammavongsa was a judge for the 2021
Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is a Canadian poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin.
Before 2022, two separate awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. I ...
. She was guest editor for ''2021 Best Canadian Poetry'' (
Biblioasis
Biblioasis is a Canadian independent bookstore and publishing company, based in Windsor, Ontario.Pedlar Press, 2003)
* ''Found'' (Pedlar Press, 2007)
* ''Light'' (Pedlar Press, 2013)
* ''Cluster'' (
McClelland & Stewart
McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Random House of Canada, Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann.
...
CBC Books
CBC Arts () is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's diverse artistic communitie ...