Memories can be triggered by things we see or sounds we hear. But what about the food we eat? That’s how Oakland-based graphic novelist Thien Pham recalled life events in his graphic memoir “Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam.” Each chapter title of his Eisner Award-winning book is named after a food item or dish he ate during an important moment in his life. He wrote about eating “Rice and Fish” on a boat as a refugee child leaving Vietnam, and trying “Steak and Potatoes” for the first time when arriving to the United States. “Family Style” also touches on themes of assimilation and community. “Sights and Sounds” caught up with Thien Pham at FAN EXPO San Francisco.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Porfirio Rangel: I love your book. You have great pictures. During what part of the creative process did you realize you wanted the story to revolve around food?
Thien Pham: I wanted to write this book since 2007, but for some reason I just could not. One day, my mom finished telling me the story about us coming to America and she asked me, “What do you remember?” I told her “I remember when I had that potato chip. Oh, I remember when I had that rice ball on the boat.” That's when I realized that all of my memories, of that time, were tied to the meals I’d eaten. That's how I decided to tell my story through memories of food.
Yeah and the food in your book looked delicious! I think what worked about telling the story was that it was done through comics. Why did you want to deliver your story in that form?
When I was in fourth grade, I didn't read very well. I am dyslexic. At the time, I got my first comic book. It was a Marvel team up with Spider-Man and Moon Knight. I remember buying it just for the pictures, but as I was looking at them, I realized that I was actually reading [the comic.] So I basically learned how to read English through comics. As soon as I read that book, I said, “I want to be a comic book artist.” So my whole life always kind of revolved around comics. I did realize early on that there weren't very many comics about food. There should be. When I read a review about food or somebody describing food, I would rather see that drawn as an illustration. That's when I decided that I wanted my comics to have food. So I really honed my craft in drawing food. It is actually a lot harder than you think, especially making it appetizing because a lot of our food is really just brown. If you draw it simply brown, it's just brown mush on paper. I looked at a lot of Japanese comics to understand how to draw food that actually looks appetizing.
What was one of your favorite chapters that you worked on?
Well, the chapter I didn't wanna do was about high school. I end up looking kind of like a bad person because I kind of rejected my Vietnamese side. I was like I am American and I don't care about this other part of my life. I think back about it now and how hard it is for immigrants because you come to America and everyone is like, “You're not American enough. You gotta be more American.” You learn English and you'll eat the food. Then you're like, okay, I'm American now. I'm eating the food. I can speak the language. Then all your friends and your family are like, “Well, now you're not Vietnamese enough. Now you're too white.” There’s like this push and pull of being both Vietnamese and American. Somehow you have to figure out how to put that together. I look back at it with a lot of shame because I missed out on really harnessing being a Vietnamese American. It was a hard chapter to do. Now when I read it, it's a really important chapter in my life – figuring out that balance between being Vietnamese and American.
You grew up mainly in San Jose and now you work in Oakland. How do you think the Bay Area has shaped your art style and your work?
The Bay Area is amazing because I do a comic strip for KQED where me and a friend go to different restaurants and eat at night. It's called “Midnight Diners.” It could be a taqueria, a phở restaurant, or an Indian restaurant. You look at the clientele and it's just full of a diverse crowd. That really informed not only my work, but my experiences in life. Sometimes I write about food that I discovered just through living here in this diverse culture. When I draw people I don't just draw white people or Asian people. I draw multitudes because that's what I see. The experiences and everything that we have here in the Bay Area, I honestly don't think could be anywhere. The diversity of people is such a beautiful part of California.
We’re at FAN EXPO. What do you like about this convention?
I came here last year just to visit my friends [and artists] Gene Yang and Derek Kirk Kim. I never heard of this convention before, but I just loved the small vibe of it. I grew up with comic cons that were like this. [FAN EXPO] has [celebrities], but I feel like they have a nice focus on comics. I love discovering new art and new talents. It's very focused on Bay Area artists and stuff like that.
You're also a high school arts teacher in Oakland. What do you think is a great motivation for kids to read or just be creative in general?
I love that comics and graphic novels are now so popular in high schools and middle schools. For me, that was how I learned how to read and enjoy not only comics, but literature and pop culture. Now I feel like a lot more kids get to experience that and get to really love reading. I love that this convention is so kid friendly. Hopefully it will inspire kids, not only to write and draw their own books, but also to read books and comics.
