A meeting of bright literary minds, as Souvankham Thammavongsa and Avni Doshi join in Indian Summer Festival's Knives and Sugar, streaming to July 17

One author’s work was up for a Giller, while the other’s competed for a Booker Prize

Untitled design (3).png
 
 

Indian Summer streams Knives and Sugar on July 10 at 7 pm; available to July 17 at midnight

 

FAST-RISING lit stars Souvankham Thammavongsa and Avni Doshi meet meet for the first time on Indian Summer Festival’s virtual stage Saturday, joining in an intimate conversation with writer and editor Anna Ling Kaye. 

Thammavongsa is best known for her Giller Prize-nominated How to Pronounce Knife, a book of short stories that draw upon her childhood as the daughter of Laotian immigrantsand explore foreignness and belonging.

Doshi’s debut novel Burnt Sugar, meanwhile, was nominated for a Booker Prize for its unsettling story of a fraught mother-daughter relationship.

The books have in common a razor-sharp intelligence, and deep, complex ideas about identity and family--meaning this should be an engrossing, illuminating conversation between two of the lit world's brightest female minds.  

 
 
 
 
 

Related Articles

Articles
Vancouver Writers Fest hires Jennifer Milley as managing director
Vancouver Writers Fest hires Jennifer Milley as managing director

Milley will work closely with festival’s artistic director, Leslie Hurtig, on year-round programming

Jewish Book Festival marks its 39th annual edition from February 10 to 15
Jewish Book Festival marks its 39th annual edition from February 10 to 15

Series hosted by the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver features topical conversations, spicy reads for Valentine’s day, and more

Vancouver Writers Fest event Cli-Fi: Fiction for our Times takes place on Granville Island, October 19
Vancouver Writers Fest event Cli-Fi: Fiction for our Times takes place on Granville Island, October 19

Discussion moderated by Claudia Casper features climate-fiction authors Christine Lai, Andrew F. Sullivan, and Catherine Leroux

Exploring Vancouver: Ten Tours of the City and Its Buildings offers fantastically detailed look at the urban landscape
Exploring Vancouver: Ten Tours of the City and Its Buildings offers fantastically detailed look at the urban landscape

Local experts Harold Kalman and Robin Ward release fifth edition of the must-have guidebook

The Polygon Gallery hosts book launch for Korean photographer Jin-me Yoon, June 8
The Polygon Gallery hosts book launch for Korean photographer Jin-me Yoon, June 8

Artist’s work explores place and identity in the context of migration, tourism, militarism, and colonialism

Holidays 2022: Host/hostess gifts for food, wine, and cocktail lovers
Holidays 2022: Host/hostess gifts for food, wine, and cocktail lovers

Creatively delicious ideas range from cool bartending books to a paella cooking class

The 37th Annual Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival represents a diversity of experiences and cultures 
The 37th Annual Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival represents a diversity of experiences and cultures 

The online event showcases recent literature that revels in pivotal ideas of the modern world, sparks meaningful conversation

Shakespeare's First Folio from 1623 opens on Macbeth, on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery
Shakespeare's First Folio from 1623 opens on Macbeth, on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery

A firsthand preview of the exhibit centred around the extremely rare book acquired by UBC Library

In Rez Rules, Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie explores self-sufficiency, success, and systemic racism
In Rez Rules, Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie explores self-sufficiency, success, and systemic racism

The long-time leader of the thriving community takes a hard look at First Nations’ relationships with colonial Canada in new book

A meeting of bright literary minds, as Souvankham Thammavongsa and Avni Doshi join in Indian Summer Festival's Knives and Sugar, streaming to July 17
A meeting of bright literary minds, as Souvankham Thammavongsa and Avni Doshi join in Indian Summer Festival's Knives and Sugar, streaming to July 17

One author’s work was up for a Giller, while the other’s competed for a Booker Prize

BOOKS, FESTS, WHAT'S STIRRINGJanet SmithIndian Summer Festival