![]() I know that firsthand-as the daughter of refugees, I’m able to finally see myself in stories. The power of How to Pronounce Knife lies in seeing the unseen. Her love is apparent in her delicate descriptions: confident children protect their parents, workers perform jobs with care and pride, and messy love stories show us that leaving is proof we are alive. She writes, tenderly and profoundly, for her characters. Most importantly, Thammavongsa doesn’t write for a white audience. In Thammavongsa’s work, refugees don’t have to be just tragic or sad but can be imbued with humor, complexity, and the unexpected. Unlike the traditional refugee narrative, which moves the refugee off to the side and ends with the heroism of the West, Laotian characters take center stage with robust interiority. Then there’s the hero of the stories themselves. ![]() For one, only a handful of stories mention the CIA bombing of Laos or the Secret War. ![]()
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