Lao Books
by Lao Authors and Poets
Awakening of the Stone (The Naga Stone)
by Meng Inthirath
In this novel inspired by Southeast Asian mythology and Western medieval times, Emmet, a young squire, is accused of the attempted assassination of a king. He escapes with the help of his brother, Esmond, a valiant knight. Together they cross a kingdom fraught with turmoil. They sought refuge but found an adventure in this tale in the world of knights and serpent-like dragons called nagas.
Before We Remember We Dream
by Bryan Thao Worra and Nor Sanavongsay
A new book by Bryan Thao Worra and Nor Sanavongsay examining the emerging myths, legends and history of Lao America through speculative poetry and original art. Cover by Sisvanh Phouthavong-Houghton.
Dance Among Elephants
by Krysada Panusith Phounsiri
Featuring 75 pages of original poetry and photography, Dance Among Elephants is a stunning debut from the next generation of Lao American poets as the community approaches the 40th year since the beginning of the Lao Diaspora.
Krysada Panusith Phounsiri’s debut book of original poetry, Dance Among Elephants, is at turns intimate and interrogative, interested in unpacking the many layers of his family’s journey from Laos to the United States and around the world.
Through the author’s photography and poetry, Dance Among Elephants explores the elusive history of the Laotian Diaspora and the challenge of identity politics, ideology, and the music of relationships between families and communities rebuilding their lives. As the Lao mark 40 years in the United States since the end of the conflict in 1975, this energetic new collection dances into its future with profound introspection, elegance, honesty and hope.
Darkshadow Quest For Knowledgece.
by Marquel Levon Pea
There are many different cultures incorporated into the Darkshadow's journey . During his journey, his purpose was enlightened by the Wise One who showed him the time before, during and after the great flood. The Darkshadow realized that he came from a blood line that protected the world against havoc created by the giants. These giants who once dominated the earth before the flood , were created by the Fallen Angels and women of the earth. Thousand of years since their demised, the threats of their return lumes over the "chosen people". While the Darkshadow embarked on his long journey , Nang Fah Daam, the daughter of the Wise One discovered that she has similar path like the Darkshadow. Shortly after she met the Darkshadow, she came in contact with a mysterious man that offer her a choice to save the world from tyranny as well. The plot thickens when she made the decision to help save the world.
Every Passing Minute
by Krysada Panusith Phounsiri
Krysada Panusith Phounsiri's 2nd book of poetry, Every Passing Minute, unearths vulnerability in the passing of time. The poems are part journey, part struggle in conversations about home, space, and freedom. Such themes embed experiences Krysada continues to live through, making time a fleeting reminder to exist.
Every Passing Minute is a play on time and desperation. It is a sequel to the relationships with homeland, identity, love, and music that Krysada dances with. As one minute passes, there is a sense of loss. In another, something can be gained. In one minute, tons of bombs drop on the country of Laos. In another minute, the music plays and a circle of dancers form. The book then, becomes a medium of dialogue between the reader and author on how to navigate through it all. Whiskey or coffee in hand.
Every Passing Minute
by Krysada Panusith Phounsiri
Krysada Panusith Phounsiri's 2nd book of poetry, Every Passing Minute, unearths vulnerability in the passing of time. The poems are part journey, part struggle in conversations about home, space, and freedom. Such themes embed experiences Krysada continues to live through, making time a fleeting reminder to exist.
Every Passing Minute is a play on time and desperation. It is a sequel to the relationships with homeland, identity, love, and music that Krysada dances with. As one minute passes, there is a sense of loss. In another, something can be gained. In one minute, tons of bombs drop on the country of Laos. In another minute, the music plays and a circle of dancers form. The book then, becomes a medium of dialogue between the reader and author on how to navigate through it all. Whiskey or coffee in hand.
Glow Up
by Amber Inthavong
Glow up is about transforming to become your “best self”, the best version of who you are. And although the statement alone sounds glamorous, in truth, it is a process that will demand taking a very honest look at the relationship you have with yourself and with others. The ideas here could be challenging, different, or maybe even obvious, however they are meant to empower you to embrace change, to make moves, and to surround yourself in a successful environment. My hope is that I can shed light upon those ideas in a candid way and we can embark on this journey together.
How to Pronounce Knife
by Souvankham Thammavongsa
In the title story of Souvankham Thammavongsa's debut collection, a young girl brings a book home from school and asks her father to help her pronounce a tricky word, a simple exchange with unforgettable consequences. Thammavongsa is a master at homing in on moments like this -- moments of exposure, dislocation, and messy feeling that push us right up against the limits of language.
The stories that make up How to Pronounce Knife focus on characters struggling to build lives in unfamiliar territory, or shuttling between idioms, cultures, and values. A failed boxer discovers what it truly means to be a champion when he starts painting nails at his sister's salon. A young woman tries to discern the invisible but immutable social hierarchies at a chicken processing plant. A mother coaches her daughter in the challenging art of worm harvesting.
In a taut, visceral prose style that establishes her as one of the most striking and assured voices of her generation, Thammavongsa interrogates what it means to make a living, to work, and to create meaning.
Hungry in Hollywood: How to Be a Working Actor
by Deanna Pak
A step-by-step guide for anyone who wants to become a working, professional actor or is even just curious about it: this book gives actors the basic and advanced tools on how to start working, hone your talent, and develop your brand to catapult your success. Deanna Pak delivers a guide that is easy to follow and enjoy, while sharing some of her own experiences in the industry as a working actress. Each chapter is a piece of the puzzle of marrying the art and business to become a working actor who moves upward without limits.
Kong's Adventure
by Prinston Pan
Follow Kong on his adventure out of Laos after the Laotian Civil War. From surviving the labor camps to swimming across the dangerous Mekong River. Kong’s Adventure tells a story about the difficult obstacles Kong had to overcome to reunite with his family and start a new life in America. This book is intended to educate the younger generation about Laotian American diaspora.
Level Up
by Amber Inthavong
Level Up to step into your inner boss with a forward thinking approach. This book is about embracing discomfort for personal growth, claiming what you want out of life, committing to yourself, being the right kind of opportunist, and knowing how to manage expectations appropriately. Level Up was made in hopes of inspiring and encouraging you to take initiative towards successful moves in today's world of creator's and self-made bosses, a continuation of the Glow Up book.
A Luang Prabang Love Story
by Manisamouth Ratana Koumphon
In 1930s Luang Prabang, the beautiful and demure Kham-Phiou was much admired. On a New Year's Day, the life of the aristocratic young woman changed when she caught the eye of a sophisticated older man - Prince Souvanna Phouma. The prince fell madly in love with Kham-Phiou and was determined to marry her against all odds. His family wanted a marriage within the dynasty, while her widowed mother feared Palace intrigues. After the wedding, life in the prince's family home was difficult, but Kham-Phiou began to adapt until the prince decided they should move to Vientiane for the sake of his career. The tale of the tragic love story spans over half a century and is set against the little-known backdrop of old-world Laos where ancient customs and superstitions still held sway.
In this charming and moving personal account incorporating the social history of Laos, Manisamouth, granddaughter of Kham-Phiou, brings her grandmother's untold story to life, accompanied by evocative black and white photographs, family trees of the Luang Prabang Royals and Kham-Phiou's lineage, and includes a section on Lao history.
Mommy Eats Fried Grasshoppers
by Vilayvanh Bender (Author), Nor Sanavongsay (Illustrator)
A story of generational and cultural differences between mother and daughter. Endearing illustrations show Mahlee learning how differently Mommy did things as a child in Laos than she does in America. Mahlee loves doing everything with Mommy, but will she eat fried grasshoppers? A great way to inspire a conversation about childhood, culture and family history.
Taken Out of Laos: A Memoir of Courage, Hope, and the Search for Identity
by Dee Ratsapho
With communist forces poised to overtake her home country of Laos, and her father already sent off to die in the work camps, six-year-old Dee, her mother, and her siblings begin the unthinkable act of escaping the only place they know and love.Then after a chance meeting with an American priest, Dee’s mother makes the difficult decision to relocate them all to America - a distant land they had only heard about.What follows is the heart-wrenching story of family bonds, hope and survival. It’s a story of courage, racism, and abandoned personal and cultural identity. It’s the story of a young woman trying to come to terms with who she is in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. And it’s the story of a shocking and unlikely reunion that would change everything.
The United States, Southeast Asia, and Historical Memory
Edited by Caroline Luft and Mark Pavlick
Exposes the horrifying criminality of United States policy in Indochina during the Vietnam war.
This book sheds crucial new light on the epochal US interventions in Southeast Asia after World War II. Antiwar activist Fred Branfman describes the tragic lives of Laotian peasants under US bombing. Cambodia scholar Ben Kiernan and colleague Owen Taylor illuminate the course of Cambodia history after unprecedented US bombing. The book also includes classic works by Noam Chomsky, Nick Turse, and Edward Herman.
When Everything Was Everything
by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay
In the tumultuous years during and after the Vietnam War, thousands of ethnic Lao fled Southeast Asia to avoid persecution, imprisonment and even death. Many of these refugees eventually settled in the Upper Midwest, in and around Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Decades later, the older generation of Lao Americans continues to navigate the trauma of the region-wide conflict that ripped them from their homeland thousands of miles away. Their wounds have yet to scab.
Meanwhile, every generation of Lao still grapples with misrepresentation--or no representation at all--in popular and historical narratives, school curriculums, community conversations, and the arts. As a trans-generational narrative, When Everything Was Everything signifies a turning point for Lao American refugee stories.
Artfully stitched together from the author's own imaginings, reimaginings, and memories as a child raised on food stamps and forced into ESL classes while continuously being shuttled from one public housing address to the next, this remarkable picture book is a love letter to survivors that is sure to resonate with readers of all ages.
White Dragon Two: A Royal Laotian Army Commando's Escape from Laos
by Khambang. Sibounheuang
This is the true story of Khamgbang, a Laotian soldier who fought for his country against the invasion of the North Vietnamese communists. He was wounded twice, captured; imprisoned, escaped and rejoined his unit, rose to the rank of captain, and led his troops through the last fierce battles of the war. He was trained by Americans and supplied with American equipment