Oakland Voices alumni correspondents are invited to join a special Q&A with Oakland-based author and illustrator Thi Bui, author of the award-winning The Best We Could Do on Thursday, May 11 at the Chapter 510 office in Old Oakland, California. RSVP to join fellow correspondents and get a signed copy of Bui’s book.
Note: this is an indoor event and masking is encouraged.
About Special Guest Thi Bui
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. Her debut graphic memoir, The Best We Could Do (Abrams ComicArts, 2017) has been selected for an American Book Award, a Common Book for UCLA and other colleges and universities, an all-city read by Seattle and San Francisco public libraries, a National Book Critics Circle finalist in autobiography, and an Eisner Award finalist in reality-based comics. It made over thirty best of 2017 book lists, including Bill Gates’ top five picks. She illustrated the picture book, A Different Pond, written by the poet Bao Phi (Capstone, 2017), for which she won a Caldecott Honor. With her son, Hien, she co-illustrated the children’s book, Chicken of the Sea (McSweeney’s, 2019), written by Pulitzer winner Viet Thanh Nguyen and his son, Ellison. Her short comics can be found online at The Nib, PEN America, and BOOM California. She is currently researching and drawing a work of graphic nonfiction about immigrant detention and deportation, to be published by One World, Random House.
About Host Momo Chang
Momo Chang, Co-Director of Oakland Voices, a community journalism training program and platform. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune, where she covered Chinatown and Asian American communities. Her work has appeared in the East Bay Express, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, and The New York Times. Chang is primarily a print journalist who also produces audio and visual stories for documentary film and radio. She is a Senior Contributing Editor for Hyphen and Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).
About Host Venue Chapter 510
Chapter 510 is a made-in-Oakland youth writing, bookmaking & publishing center. Our teaching artists and volunteers work side by side with educators to provide a safe space and supportive community so Black, brown, and queer youth ages 8-19 can bravely write. Oakland Voices alum from 2016-2017, Marabet Morales Sikahall, joined Chapter 510 in 2021 as Program & Community Manager. Read more on our blog .
*Attendees must be an Oakland Voices alumni and must RSVP via eventbrite to attend this in-person event.
Learn more about the Maynard Instiute’s local community journalism program Oakland Voices which is accepting applications for new correspondents through April 16, 2023.