How to Pronounce Knife explained

Author:Souvankham Thammavongsa
Isbn:9780771094613
Pub Date:April 7, 2020
Publisher:McClelland & Stewart
Awards:

How to Pronounce Knife is a short story collection by Souvankham Thammavongsa, published in 2020 by McClelland & Stewart.[1] The stories in the collection centre principally on the experiences of Laotian Canadian immigrant families, sometimes from the perspective of children observing the world of adults.[2]

The collection won the 2020 Giller Prize[3] and the 2021 Trillium Book Award for English prose.[4]

Critical reception

How to Pronounce Knife was generally well-received by critics, including a starred reviews Booklist, who wrote, "These stories have a quiet brilliance in their raw portrayal of the struggle to find meaning in difficult times and to belong in a foreign place. Thammavongsa writes with an elegance that is both brutal and tender, giving her stories and their characters a powerful voice."[5]

Writing for Shelf Awareness, Alice Martin called the prose "spare" and "precise," saying its "syntactical simplicity [...] throws the internal complexity of these characters and their situations into stark relief, displaying how restraint can pack an unexpectedly sentimental punch."[6]

The jurors for the Giller Prize said the collection is "a stunning collection of stories that portray the immigrant experience in achingly beautiful prose. The emotional expanse chronicled in this collection is truly remarkable. These stories are vessels of hope, of hurt, of rejection, of loss and of finding one's footing in a new and strange land. Thammavongsa's fiction cuts to the core of the immigrant reality like a knife--however you pronounce it."[7]

Publishers Weekly called the collection "sharp," "elegant," and "potent,"[8] and Kirkus Reviews referred to it as "moving, strange, and occasionally piercing."[9]

Awards

Awards for How to Pronounce Knife!Year!Award!Result!Ref.
2020National Book Critics Circle Award for FictionFinalist[10] [11]
2020Scotiabank Giller PrizeWinner[12]
2021Danuta Gleed Literary AwardRunner-Up[13] [14]
2021PEN/Open Book AwardFinalist[15]
2021Trillium Book Award, EnglishWinner[16]

Notes and References

  1. News: Abouseif . Carine . 2020-04-29 . Souvankham Thammavongsa on crafting her debut fiction collection How to Pronounce Knife . en-CA . . 2023-07-16 . 2023-03-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230307065016/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-souvankham-thammavongsa-on-crafting-her-debut-fiction-collection-how/ . live .
  2. Web site: Bhatt . Jenny . 2020-04-23 . In ‘How to Pronounce Knife,’ stories of Lao immigrants reveal everyday moments of racism, classism, power and privilege . 2023-07-16 . . 2021-10-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211019134517/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/in-how-to-pronounce-knife-stories-of-lao-immigrants-reveal-everyday-moments-of-racism-classism-power-and-privilege/2020/04/23/ec81e8be-8582-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html . live .
  3. Web site: 2020-11-09 . Souvankham Thammavongsa wins $100K Scotiabank Giller Prize for short story collection How to Pronounce Knife . 2023-07-16 . . 2022-08-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220807150907/https://www.cbc.ca/books/souvankham-thammavongsa-wins-100k-scotiabank-giller-prize-for-short-story-collection-how-to-pronounce-knife-1.5796202 . live .
  4. Web site: Drudi . Cassandra . 2021-06-16 . Souvankham Thammavongsa wins $20,000 Trillium Book Award . 2023-07-16 . . en . 2021-10-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211026061841/https://quillandquire.com/omni/souvankham-thammavongsa-wins-20000-trillium-book-award/ . live .
  5. Web site: Park . Emily . 2020-02-15 . How to Pronounce Knife . 2023-07-16 . . 2022-04-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220421183417/https://www.booklistonline.com/How-to-Pronounce-Knife/pid=9727982 . live .
  6. Web site: Martin . Alice . 2020-04-24 . How to Pronounce Knife . 2023-07-16 . . 2022-08-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220819175129/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=913 . live .
  7. Web site: 2020-11-11 . Awards: Scotiabank Giller Winner, PNBA Shortlist . 2023-07-16 . . 2022-11-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221103033810/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3864 . live .
  8. Web site: 2019-10-23 . How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa . 2023-07-16 . . 2022-11-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221127044421/https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780316422130 . live .
  9. Web site: 2020-01-25 . How to Pronounce Knife . 2023-07-16 . . 2022-09-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220929224104/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/souvankham-thammavongsa/how-to-pronounce-knife/ . live .
  10. Web site: 2020 . 2022-01-25 . National Book Critics Circle . en-US . 2022-08-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220828054530/https://www.bookcritics.org/past-awards/2020/ . live .
  11. Web site: Maher . John . 2021-01-24 . NBCC Awards Finalists Announced . 2023-07-16 . . en . 2023-02-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230204192853/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/85392-nbcc-awards-finalists-announced.html . live .
  12. Web site: Nawotka . Ed . 2020-11-10 . Souvankham Thammavongsa Wins 2020 Giller Prize . 2023-07-16 . . en . 2022-12-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221206033144/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/84845-souvankham-thammavongsa-wins-2020-giller-prize.html . live .
  13. Web site: Qiao . Vicky . 2021-05-28 . Jack Wang wins $10K Danuta Gleed Literary Award for best first short story collection for We Two Alone . 2023-07-16 . . 2021-10-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211018013355/https://www.cbc.ca/books/jack-wang-wins-10k-danuta-gleed-literary-award-for-best-first-short-story-collection-for-we-two-alone-1.6043957 . live .
  14. Web site: 2021-06-02 . Awards: Danuta Gleed Winner, Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Shortlist . 2023-07-16 . . 2022-12-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221209170757/https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3998 . live .
  15. Web site: February 10, 2021 . Announcing the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210214001856/https://pen.org/literary-awards/2021-pen-america-literary-awards-finalists/ . February 14, 2021 . February 14, 2021 . PEN America . en.
  16. Web site: 2021-06-18 . Awards: Walter Scott, Trillium Winners . 2023-07-16 . . 2022-12-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221209164407/https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4010 . live .