Thien Pham

Thien Pham’s first memory is the taste of the food he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam. In this selection of works from his graphic novel Family Style, Chapter 2, Báhn Cốun, Pham tells the story of his family’s experience in Songkhla Refugee Camp. While living in the camp Pham’s mother buys a Bánh Cuốn food stall and learns to prepare food that “tastes like home”. Within each chapter of Family Style, food is memory to help tell the story of Thien Pham’s life, and his search for belonging and happiness.

Thien Pham is a graphic novelist, comic artist, and educator based in Oakland, CA. He earned his BFA from Academy of Art University, San Francisco. Pham is the author and illustrator of the graphic novel Sumo and did the art for the middle-grade graphic novel Level Up, written by Gene Luen Yang. His Latest Book Family Style, a memoir about his family's immigration to America told through the lens of food, was released in June, 2023. Currently, Pham is working on his next graphic novel, teaching, and eating. A lot.