How to Pronounce Knife
{{Short description|2020 short story collection by Souvankham Thammavongsa}}
{{Infobox book
| author = Souvankham Thammavongsa
| image = How to Pronounce Knife.jpg
| isbn = 9780771094613
| pub_date = April 7, 2020
| publisher = McClelland & Stewart
| awards = {{plainlist|
- Scotiabank Giller Prize (2020)
- Trillium Book Award, English (2021)
}}
}}
How to Pronounce Knife is a short story collection by Souvankham Thammavongsa, published in 2020 by McClelland & Stewart.{{Cite news |last=Abouseif |first=Carine |date=2020-04-29 |title=Souvankham Thammavongsa on crafting her debut fiction collection How to Pronounce Knife |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-souvankham-thammavongsa-on-crafting-her-debut-fiction-collection-how/ |access-date=2023-07-16 |archive-date=2023-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307065016/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-souvankham-thammavongsa-on-crafting-her-debut-fiction-collection-how/ |url-status=live }} 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.{{Cite web |last=Bhatt |first=Jenny |date=2020-04-23 |title=In ‘How to Pronounce Knife,’ stories of Lao immigrants reveal everyday moments of racism, classism, power and privilege |url=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 |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=The Washington Post |archive-date=2021-10-19 |archive-url=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 |url-status=live }}
The collection won the 2020 Giller Prize{{Cite web |date=2020-11-09 |title=Souvankham Thammavongsa wins $100K Scotiabank Giller Prize for short story collection How to Pronounce Knife |url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/souvankham-thammavongsa-wins-100k-scotiabank-giller-prize-for-short-story-collection-how-to-pronounce-knife-1.5796202 |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=CBC Books |archive-date=2022-08-07 |archive-url=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 |url-status=live }} and the 2021 Trillium Book Award for English Prose.{{Cite web |last=Drudi |first=Cassandra |date=2021-06-16 |title=Souvankham Thammavongsa wins $20,000 Trillium Book Award |url=https://quillandquire.com/omni/souvankham-thammavongsa-wins-20000-trillium-book-award/ |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=Quill and Quire |language=en |archive-date=2021-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026061841/https://quillandquire.com/omni/souvankham-thammavongsa-wins-20000-trillium-book-award/ |url-status=live }}
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."{{Cite web |last=Park |first=Emily |date=2020-02-15 |title=How to Pronounce Knife |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/How-to-Pronounce-Knife/pid=9727982 |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=Booklist |archive-date=2022-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421183417/https://www.booklistonline.com/How-to-Pronounce-Knife/pid=9727982 |url-status=live }}
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."{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Alice |date=2020-04-24 |title=How to Pronounce Knife |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=913 |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=2022-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819175129/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=913 |url-status=live }}
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."{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2020-11-11 |title=Awards: Scotiabank Giller Winner, PNBA Shortlist |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3864 |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=2022-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103033810/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3864 |url-status=live }}
Publishers Weekly called the collection "sharp," "elegant," and "potent,"{{Cite web |date=2019-10-23 |title=How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780316422130 |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=Publishers Weekly |archive-date=2022-11-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127044421/https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780316422130 |url-status=live }} and Kirkus Reviews referred to it as "moving, strange, and occasionally piercing."{{Cite web |date=2020-01-25 |title=How to Pronounce Knife |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/souvankham-thammavongsa/how-to-pronounce-knife/ |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=2022-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929224104/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/souvankham-thammavongsa/how-to-pronounce-knife/ |url-status=live }}
It was included by Globe and Mail into their Globe 100 book list for year 2020.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-the-globe-100-our-favourite-books-of-2020/ The Globe 100: Our favourite books of 2020]