In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 1975
- Birthplace
- Vietnam
- Country
- Vietnam
- Nationality
- American
- Known for
- The Best We Could Do and illustrations for A Different Pond
- Born
- 1975, Vietnam
- Resettlement
- Reached the United States in 1978 after a refugee camp in Malaysia
- Education
- Berkeley bachelor’s degrees, 1998; Bard MFA, 2000; NYU MA in Art Education, 2003
- Debut graphic memoir
- The Best We Could Do, 2017; American Book Award, 2018
- Picture-book recognition
- Illustrator of A Different Pond, a 2018 Caldecott Honor book written by Bao Phi
- 2026 publication
- Ride / Đạp Xe, written by Bao Phi and illustrated by Bui
Why this life matters
Her comics place family relationships and ordinary experience inside histories of war and migration often told through military or national perspectives.
Timeline
Key moments
Birth in Vietnam
Born shortly before the war ended.
Family resettlement
Reaches the United States after a refugee camp in Malaysia.
Art and education
Completes Berkeley degrees in 1998, Bard MFA in 2000 and NYU MA in 2003.
Teaching
Works as a founding teacher at Oakland International High School.
Memoir and illustration
Publishes The Best We Could Do and illustrates A Different Pond.
Two recognitions
Receives an American Book Award; A Different Pond receives a Caldecott Honor.
Family collaboration
Co-illustrates Chicken of the Sea with Hien Bui-Stafford.
Graphic nonfiction project
Creative Capital supports NOWHERELAND; no completed publication is inferred.
Bilingual picture book
Ride / Đạp Xe is released on 1 August.
Displacement, family history and art education
Thi Bui was born in Vietnam in 1975 and left with her family when she was three. After a refugee camp in Malaysia, they reached the United States in 1978. Growing up in San Diego, she encountered the effects of war within family life before understanding the histories behind them.
Her author-linked 2026 résumé records Berkeley bachelor’s degrees in Legal Studies and Practice of Art in 1998, an MFA in Sculpture from Bard in 2000, and an NYU MA in Art Education in 2003. Her later family-history work combined artistic training with interviews and historical research.
Learning comics to reconstruct memory
The Best We Could Do, published in 2017, developed through years of interviewing relatives and learning sequential storytelling. Beginning with Bui becoming a mother, the graphic memoir reconsiders her parents as people facing uncertainty, responsibility and fear rather than treating migration as a journey with a simple endpoint.
In a Comics Journal interview, she explained how reconstructing remembered places required attention to homes, clothes, architecture and plants. Showing relatives rough chapters could prompt further recollections. Drawing was therefore not only a way to illustrate an existing account: it helped her ask additional questions.
Awards, collaboration and teaching
The memoir received a 2018 American Book Award. Bui also illustrated Bao Phi’s A Different Pond, published in 2017 and recognised with a 2018 Caldecott Honor. The distinction is an Honor, not the Caldecott Medal; Bao Phi is the book’s author.
For Chicken of the Sea in 2019, Bui co-illustrated with her son Hien Bui-Stafford, while Viet Thanh Nguyen and Ellison Nguyen supplied the text. Teaching was another substantial commitment: she was a founding teacher at Oakland International High School from 2007 to 2014. Her résumé’s latest California College of the Arts appointment ended in July 2025.
Graphic reporting and a bilingual picture book
Creative Capital supported Bui’s NOWHERELAND in 2025, describing a graphic nonfiction project about immigrant detention and deportation. It combines personal narratives with accounts of the systems affecting them. The project record does not establish that a finished book had been published.
In 2026 she reunited with Bao Phi for Ride / Đạp Xe, released by Capstone on 1 August. The English–Vietnamese picture book uses learning to ride a bicycle to explore parental guidance, trust and letting go. The collaboration extends her work beyond the family history of her debut while retaining an interest in relationships across generations.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Thi Bui
- Is The Best We Could Do fiction?
- It is a graphic memoir developed through family interviews, historical research and comics storytelling.
- Did Thi Bui write A Different Pond?
- Bao Phi wrote A Different Pond; Thi Bui illustrated it. The book received a 2018 Caldecott Honor.
- Did Thi Bui win the Caldecott Medal?
- A Different Pond received a Caldecott Honor in 2018, not the Caldecott Medal.
- Has Thi Bui’s NOWHERELAND been published?
- Creative Capital documents support for the project in 2025. The sources reviewed here do not establish a completed publication or release date.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Nam Le
Compare Nam Le’s fictional stories and poetry with Bui’s graphic memoir, tracing different literary responses to Vietnamese origins and family migration.
- Kim Thúy
Explore Kim Thúy’s French-language fiction and theatre writing in Quebec, another Vietnam-born author’s treatment of displacement and family memory.
- Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
Compare a different literary approach to Vietnamese family histories and the consequences of war.
- Viet Thanh Nguyen
Read about the writer who collaborated with Bui on Chicken of the Sea.
- Ke Huy Quan
Explore another Vietnam-born American cultural figure’s distinct experience of migration and representation.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. National Endowment for the Arts · Big ReadFamily history and The Best We Could Do
- 2. Thi Bui · official biographyBackground, books and collaborations
- 3. Thi Bui · author-linked 2026 résuméDegrees and dated teaching appointments
The résumé is linked from the author’s own site. The 2024–2025 CCA Senior Lecturer appointment is not described as an ongoing 2026 position.
- 4. The Comics Journal · first-person interviewDrawing, research and development of the memoir
- 5. Before Columbus Foundation · 2018 announcementAmerican Book Award for The Best We Could Do
- 6. American Library Association2018 Caldecott Honor for A Different Pond
The recognition is a Caldecott Honor, not the Medal. Writing and illustration credits remain distinct.
- 7. Creative Capital · 2025 project recordNOWHERELAND development support
Support for NOWHERELAND does not establish a completed publication. Vietnam archive placement reflects birthplace and the work’s central connections; nationality is American, not an inferred Vietnamese citizenship.
- 8. CapstoneRide / Đạp Xe, published 1 August 2026
- 9. Wikimedia Commons · photograph provenanceThi Bui photograph, creator and reuse terms
The existing Commons portrait crop was extracted from the library’s BayNet video, not from a separately available parent photograph. The original YouTube page independently identifies San Francisco Public Library and a Creative Commons Attribution licence allowing reuse. The complete supplied crop is retained without enlargement; its alpha channel was fully opaque.
- 10. San Francisco Public Library · original videoBayNet 2017 panel and original Creative Commons reuse licence
