About Sahtu Press
Sahtu Press is a Lao American-owned literary publisher, publishing since 2013. We publish picture books, poetry, comics and fiction rooted in Lao history, folklore and family life, along with poetry from the wider Southeast Asian diaspora.
Our story
Lao Americans have been here for half a century, and our stories are still hard to find on bookstore shelves, school reading lists and library catalogs. We started Sahtu Press in 2013 to change that.
Our first picture books were A Sticky Mess, a Xieng Mieng folktale, and Mommy Eats Fried Grasshoppers, about a Lao mom and her Lao American daughter. Poetry by Krysada Panusith Phounsiri and Bryan Thao Worra followed, along with Battlefield Blooming by Vietnamese poet Mai Nguyen Do. Now we’re making Vongfai, a graphic novel drawn from Lao mythology.
Why “Sahtu”
Sādhu is a Pali word that is translated to “It is well.” In Theravada Buddhist rituals, it is repeated three times for emphasis at the end of teaching. It’s an expression of praise and approval.
The Founders
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Nor Sanavongsay
Author of children’s books inspired by Lao cultures. He wrote and illustrated A Sticky Mess. Nor consulted on story structure and illustrated the Lao children’s book, Mommy Eats Fried Grasshoppers.
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Bryan Thao Worra
Holds over 20 awards for his writing and community leadership including an NEA Fellowship in Literature and was a Cultural Olympian representing Laos during the 2012 London Summer Games.
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Krysada Binly Phounsiri
A professional dancer, an award winning poet, and an avid photographer. A San Diego based artist who began writing poetry at age 11, but fell in love with poetry when he attended UC Berkeley.