Press kit
Everything you need to write about Sahtu Press: facts, photos, book covers and logos. Need something else? Just ask.
- Founded
- 2013
- Independent literary publisher
- Lao-owned
- Home
- Manteca, CA
About Sahtu Press
Sahtu Press is a Lao-owned literary publisher. Founded in 2013, we publish original Lao picture books, poetry and literary fiction, for everyone.
Founded in 2013, Sahtu Press is a Lao-owned literary publisher.
Lao culture spans 600 years of rich storytelling tradition. Yet Lao American children's books are hard to find in bookstores, on school reading lists and in library collections. Sahtu Press publishes original Lao books, written and illustrated by Lao Americans, for everyone.
People
Founders
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Nor Sanavongsay
Nor Sanavongsay came to the United States as a Lao refugee at age three. An award-winning illustrator and author, he founded Sahtu Press in 2013.
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Bryan Thao Worra
Bryan Thao Worra is a poet and science fiction writer with over 20 awards for his writing and community leadership, including an NEA Fellowship in Literature. He was a Cultural Olympian for Laos at the 2012 London Games.
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Krysada Binly Phounsiri
Krysada Binly Phounsiri is a San Diego poet, professional dancer and photographer. He began writing poetry at 11, fell in love with it at UC Berkeley, and won the Rhysling Award for his poem “It Begins With A Haunting.”
Authors
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Vilayvanh Bender
Vilayvanh Bender came to America as a refugee at age seven, speaking no English. A registered dietitian in Corona, California, she turned the childhood stories she shared in her daughters’ classrooms into Mommy Eats Fried Grasshoppers.
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Dr. Damdy Chanthavilay Richards
Dr. Damdy Chanthavilay Richards was born in Laos, came to America as a refugee and became a dentist. Her two sons’ love of Lao instruments inspired Somjit & Somjai’s Musical Journey, made with her niece, Adrianna Ni-Lynn Minor.
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Mai Nguyen Do
Mai Nguyen Do (Đỗ Nguyên Mai) is a Vietnamese writer, teacher and political scientist from Southern California. They hold a Ph.D. in political science from UC Riverside and teach at Mt. San Antonio College.
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Amy Linsamouth
Amy Linsamouth is a comics writer whose work runs from the interactive horror comic Omens to the comedy series Byte Me. She co-wrote the comic adaptation of Descendants of the Undead with Ken Foree, and co-writes Vongfai.
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S. Bay Koulabdara
S. Bay Koulabdara is a Lao American artist whose original art appears throughout American Laodyssey, a collection of poems by Bryan Thao Worra. Bay also helped bring the Laomerica 50 exhibit of Lao American history and art to Michigan.
Artists
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Adrianna Ni-Lynn Minor
Adrianna Ni-Lynn Minor is an emerging artist who is half Lao and grew up in a close-knit Lao family. She illustrated Somjit & Somjai’s Musical Journey, written by her aunt, so Lao kids can see their culture on the page.
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Lanna Souvanny
Lanna Souvanny is an illustrator, character designer and comic book artist in Vancouver, with more than ten years in animation and comics. She loves stories with a poetic touch, which makes Vongfai a natural fit.
Books
Logo and colors
- Sahtu Black
- Sahtu Paper
- Sahtu Navy
- Action Orange
Highlights
Coming next
Vongfai: Moon’s Purpose
A YA graphic novel about two Lao sisters and a dying spirit gate, coming to Kickstarter in May 2027.
