Thien Pham


Thien Pham is a cartoonist, illustrator, and educator based in Oakland, CA.[1] Pham is best known for his graphic memoir Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam (2023). Pham currently teaches art in the Visual and Performing Arts Department at Bishop O’Dowd High School and has taught there since 2002.[2][3]

Born in Vietnam, Pham and his family fled to a refugee camp in Thailand in 1979 and immigrated to the United States in 1984.[4] Pham lived with his family in San Jose, CA, and he made minicomics in the 2000s.[5][6][7]

In 2011, Pham illustrated Level Up, a graphic novel written by Gene Luen Yang. Level Up was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2012.[8] Pham published the graphic novel Sumo in 2012 and the graphic memoir Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam in 2023. In 2024, Family Style was a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction and won the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Memoir.[9]

Pham collaborates with KQED food editor Luke Tsai on "The Midnight Diners," an illustrated restaurant review column. Tsai and Pham's "The Midnight Diners" was nominated for a James Beard Media Award in 2025.[10][11]

Published Works

  • Level Up (2011) with Gene Luen Yang: A graphic novel about video games, family, and a medical student.[12][13]
  • Sumo (2012): A graphic novel about a former football player who moves to Japan and trains to become a sumo wrestler.[14][15]
  • Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam (2023): A graphic memoir about Pham's experience immigrating to the United States at a young age. Each chapter is named after a significant food in Pham's life.[16][17][18][19][20]

References

  1. ^ "Thien Pham | Authors | Macmillan". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  2. ^ "Thien Pham". bishopodowd.org. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  3. ^ "Graphic Novels with Thien Pham". PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  4. ^ Yu, Brandon (2023). "Oakland cartoonist's graphic novel details the trauma, hope and food of family's immigrant story". Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  5. ^ "From potato chips to bánh cuón, Oakland teacher remembers migrating to US through food memories". ABC7 San Francisco. 2025-04-23. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  6. ^ "Writers / Artists: Thien Pham - Poopsheet Foundation". poopsheetfoundation.com. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  7. ^ "Self-Published Worldwide | Cary Graphic Arts Collection | RIT". www.rit.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  8. ^ Esposito, Joey (4 April 2012). "2012 Eisner Nominees Announced". IGN.
  9. ^ Garrity |, Shaenon K. "'Roaming' Wins 2024 Eisner Award for Best New Graphic Novel". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  10. ^ "The Midnight Diners Archives | KQED Arts". www.kqed.org. 2025-10-03. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  11. ^ "Introducing the 2025 James Beard Media Award Nominees". www.jamesbeard.org. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  12. ^ Paul, Pamela (2011-07-13). "The Tiger Mom's Other Child". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  13. ^ Dong, Lan (2014-10-30), "3. The Model Minority between Medical School and Nintendo: Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham's Level Up", Drawing New Color Lines, Hong Kong University Press, pp. 69–86, doi:10.1515/9789888313242-007, ISBN 978-988-8313-24-2, retrieved 2025-10-29{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  14. ^ "Sumo by Thien Pham". www.publishersweekly.com. 2012. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  15. ^ Chiu, Monica (2020-11-01). "Graphic panelling and the promotion of transnational affiliations in Thien Pham's Sumo". Studies in Comics. 11 (2): 285–291. doi:10.1386/stic_00030_1. ISSN 2040-3232.
  16. ^ Beeck |, Nathalie op de. "Spring 2023 Flying Starts: Thien Pham". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  17. ^ Chazaro, Alan (2023-06-20). "Thien Pham's Graphic Novel Is an Immigration Story Told Through Food". www.kqed.org. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  18. ^ Mandaville, Alison (2024). "Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham (review)". World Literature Today. 98 (2): 65. doi:10.1353/wlt.2024.a920928.
  19. ^ Spisak, April (2023). "Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 76 (11): 373. doi:10.1353/bcc.2023.a900367. ISSN 1558-6766 – via Project MUSE.
  20. ^ Mohan, Amrutha; Chandrasekharan, Nair Anup (2025). "Precarious panels: oceanic spatialities and the gothic in refugee graphic narratives". Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. 16 (5): 847–863. doi:10.1080/21504857.2025.2541099. ISSN 2150-4857.
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