Pira Sudham

Pira Sudham was born in a village in Isan, northeastern Thailannd. At the age of fourteen he left Isan for Bangkok to become a servant to Buddhist monks in a monastery where he also attended a secondary school. Later he entered Triam Udom High School before gaining a place at Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University. He won a New Zealand Government scholarship to read English Literature at Auckland University and then Victoria University of Wellington, where his first story was published by New Zealand's leading literary quarterly Landfall. Since then Pira Sudham has been writing short stories, poems and novels in English. He has not produced any literary works in the Thai language.

Bibliography

Siamese Drama published in 1983, Bangkok. The expanded and revised edition of the book was published in 2002 under the title of Tales of Thailand. Tales of Thailand has had several editions including the Fifth Cycle Edition. People of Esarn published in 1987, Bangkok. The book has been extensively revised and expanded into two parts, namely People of Esarn - The Damned of Thailand and The Kingdom in Conflict published in Bangkok in 2007. Monsoon Countrt, the prequel,published in 1988, Bangkok, and has undergone several editions including Mahanaga Edition 2002. The Force of Karma, the sequel to Monsoon Country,published in 2002, Bangkok. Shadowed Country published in 2004, Bangkok. The 750-page hardcover edition is the combination of Book One (Monsoon Country, the prequel) and Book Two (The Force of Karma, the sequel). To combine the two books into one volume the author rewrote both works to cover the political turmoil and land conflicts, spaning over fifty years. The saga hints at the take-over of the shadowed kingdom through the damage-destroy-take-over stratagem. Pira Sudham's literary works deal with the characters and circumstances of his fellow villagers as well as those on his path. They include the great and the good, the rich and the poor, the famous and the infamous, piety and venality. The saga explores Thailand's social-political transition taking place in the past 50 years. Pira Sudham has lived for over twenty years in New Zealand, Australia and in the U.K., writing short stories, poems and his first novel, MONSOON COUNTRY. For subsequent editions of the works, the author uses his name in full: Pira Canning Sudham. He lives in his home village in Isan, Northeastern Thailand.

External links

• Pira Sudham's official site