(Ryan Emberley Photography)
Souvankham Thammavongsa wins 2025 Giller Prize
Published: December 16, 2025
Souvankham Thammavongsa, who earned a bachelor of arts from U of T's Faculty of Arts & Science in 2003 as a New College member, has won the Giller Prize for the second time in five years.
The Giller Prize awards $100,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel, graphic novel or short story collection published in English.
Thammavongsa was honoured for her debut novel Pick a Colour. The book is inspired by Thammavongsa’s lived experience as a refugee and racialized woman growing up in Canada, and tackles stereotypes about immigrant workers.
"A master of form and restraint, Thammavongsa once again affirms her place as one of the most vital literary voices of our time," jurors wrote of the winning book.
“When I was a kid, I didn't know how to become a writer,” Thammavongsa said in her acceptance speech in Toronto on Nov.17. “My mom and dad are not writers. I printed and bound my own books, sold them out of my school knapsack, on front lawns, at farmers’ markets and at small press fairs. Thank you to anyone who has ever bought a book that I made.”
Thammavongsa previously 2020 Giller Prize for her short story collection How to Pronounce Knife.
