Thi Bui
Kent State University at Stark presents Thi Bui, author of award winning graphic memoir, The Best We Could Do.
Meet the Author Thi Bui
Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023
7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Conference Center
Kent State University at Stark
Books will be available for purchase. A Q&A and book signing will follow the presentation.
FREE EVENT - PLEASE REGISTER
The event is free and tickets are not required, but please register to let us know you're coming!
REGISTER
To request disability accommodations, email starkevents@kent.edu.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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.
THE BIG READ
Kent State University at Stark presents Thi Bui as part of the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read and Arts Midwest, with community partners Stark Library, McKinley Presidential Library & Museum and Canal Fulton Public Library. Additional support provided by Kent State University's Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and DEAR Committee.
ADDITIONAL BIG READ EVENTS
| Date | Time | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, Sept. 1 | 2:30 - 4 p.m. | Stark Library - East Canton Branch |
Writers' Workshop Discussion: The Best We Could Do |
| Tuesday, Sept. 5 | 6 p.m. | Stark Library - Main Library |
Read Around the World Book Club Discussion: The Best We Could Do |
| Tuesday, Sept. 12 | 6 p.m. | McKinley Presidential Library & Museum |
History-based Discussion: The Best We Could Do |
| Wednesday, Sept. 13 | 1:30 p.m. | McKinley Presidential Library & Museum |
History-based Discussion: The Best We Could Do |
| Thursday, Sept. 14 | 4 p.m. | Kent State Twinsburg Academic Center |
Book Discussion: The Best We Could Do |
| Tuesday, Sept. 19 | 6 p.m. | Canal Fulton Public Library | Book Club Discussion: The Best We Could Do |
| Thursday, Sept. 21 | 11 a.m. | Kent Free Library Bumphrey Room |
Book Discussion: The Best We Could Do |
| Thursday, Sept. 21 | 1:30 p.m. | North Canton Public Library |
Senior Group Book Club Discussion: The Best We Could Do |
| Wednesday, Oct. 4 | 3 - 4 p.m. | Kent State Stark Library | Book Discussion: A History of Banned & Challenged Books from World War II through the 21st Century |
| Wednesday, Oct. 24 | 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. | Kent State Stark Main Hall Conference Room 1 |
Book Discussion: Unsayable: Expressions of Lived Experiences in Graphic Novels |