Check out local artist Thi Bui’s work featured in a special edition of McSweeney’s Literary Magazine.

On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured South Vietnam’s capital of Saigon, ending the Vietnam War. With 50 years now passed, those who left Vietnam — and subsequent generations — are reflecting on how the war and the ensuing exodus have influenced their identities and heritage. Three writers from across the Vietnamese diaspora write about the war and its lasting impacts on refugees and future generations in a new issue of the literary magazine McSweeney’s, titled “The Make Believers.” They join us to share what the anniversary means for them, and we’ll hear what it means to you.

Guest-edited by Thi Bui and Vu Tran, the latest issue turns its attention to the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Envisioned as a “treasure box” of Vietnamese history, The Make Believers issue includes one paperback magazine, two booklets and one ‘menu’, all packaged in a beautiful foil-stamped cigar box. “The look and design of this issue was largely inspired by images from co-guest editor Thi Bui’s life,” says McSweeney’s art director Sunra Thompson.

This week, we discuss McSweeney’s new quarterly issue: McSweeney’s 78: The Make Believers, featuring writers of the Vietnamese diaspora. We are joined by contributors and guest editors of the issue, Thi Bui and Vu Tran, as well as McSweeney’s Quarterly Editor Rita Bullwinkel.

The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), announced the 2024 winners of its Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature today during the ALA’s LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience. The award promotes Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and is awarded based on literary and artistic merit. The award offers three youth categories including Picture Book, Children’s Literature and Youth/Young Adult Literature. The committee selected one Picture Book honor title: “Finding Papa,” written by Angela Pham Krans, illustrated by Thi Bui and published by HarperCollins.

Applications are now open for grants to support NEA Big Read projects between September 2024 and June 2025. Applicants will host book discussions, writing workshops, and creative activities that celebrate unique aspects of their community, using as inspiration one of 50 available NEA Big Read books.

On May 11, Oakland Voices alum gathered for an inspiring talk with Oakland-based author and illustrator, Thi Bui. Bui is best known for her graphic novel, The Best We Could Do, which debuted in 2017 and received many accolades including a 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award nomination.

Debut author Angela Pham Krans bases this touching debut picture book on her childhood experience of moving from Vietnam to America. It’s a lovely story paired with vibrant illustrations by Thi Bui, the illustrator of the picture book A Different Pond and the author and illustrator of the graphic novel The Best We Could Do.

An affecting story of courage and hope in hardship. Bui’s art, with its intimate portraits of family moments, is full of tenderness and expression.

Mixed-media illustrations from Bui (A Different Pond) focus on interpersonal tenderness and varied landscapes, evoking across somber events a young child’s joy and yearning, and a playful parent-child bond.

Thi Bui was born in Vietnam and came to the United States in 1978 as part of the “boat people” wave of refugees fleeing Southeast Asia at the end of the Vietnam War.

Today we’re delighted to reveal the cover for Finding Papa by Angela Pham Krans, illustrated by Thi Bui! The book was designed by Erica DeChavez and will be released on February 7, 2023 by HarperCollins.

It’s The Stacks Book Club day and we’re discussing our first ever graphic memoir on the show. The book is The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui, and our guest is graphic memoirist (Good Talk), novelist (The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing), and cultural critic, Mira Jacob.

Published in 2017, “The Best We Could Do” was chosen as a 2021-22 National Endowment of the Arts “Big Read Book,” a program that aims to expose readers to aspects of our nation’s history and culture.

An annual list that celebrates the everyday heroes—artists, activists, and community leaders—for their extraordinary commitment to building sustainable, equitable, and regenerative communities.

Chicken of the Sea, a wild, action-packed story in which farm chickens become pirates and sneak into the enemy territory of Dog Knights, is one of these rare stories. What’s more: the multigenerational collaborative book project has the potential to inspire artists, writers, parents, and children to collaborate with one another.

When Ellison Nguyen was 4 years old he got the chance to meet Thi Bui, the illustrator of one of his favorite books. He was so inspired by her work that he promptly wrote and drew his own picture book — "It came to me," Ellison, now 6, explains simply.

After publishing her hit debut, ‘The Best We Could Do,’ the Vietnamese-American writer, illustrator, and educator is looking to use her platform to help other refugees.

Thi Bui discusses “The Best We Could Do,” a graphic novel documenting her family's daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s and the difficulties they faced building new lives in America.

Thi Bui’s graphic memoir “The Best We Could Do” begins with the birth of her first child in a hospital contemplating her mother’s experience with childbirth in Vietnam and her family’s journey to the United States as refugees.