Congratulations to Souvankham Thammavongsa on winning the Giller Prize for 2020. As you may know, the Shadow Giller chose How to Pronounce Knife as their winner as well and we couldn’t be more thrilled that the Giller jury felt the same as we did!
On her wonderful win Thammavongsa said, “36 years ago I went to school and I pronounced the word knife wrong but I didn’t get a prize.”
Jurors hailed the book as “a stunning collection of stories that portray the immigrant experience in achingly beautiful prose.“
Born in the Lao refugee camp in Nong Khai, Thailand, and raised in Toronto, Thammavongsa has earned acclaim for her four poetry books and her writing has been featured in publications including Harper’s Magazine, the Paris Review and The Atlantic.
We look forward to reading more of what Thammavongsa writes in the future. Congratulations!
That means it’s a wrap for this year’s Shadow Jury! It has been a great honour to work together reading through the books chosen for this great literary prize.
2 Comments
Well done! It must be fun knowing you picked the same book that ultimately won the prize :) I’ve placed it on hold now (I think I’m 197 in line…).
That is so crazy! So wonderful though that this much excitement is surrounding her book. It is such an excellent collection! Whenever you do get your chance I’m certain you will absolutely love these stories!