This has been an interesting season for Lao American Kickstarters and other crowdfunding projects. One that I'm really looking forward to this year is Nor Sanavongsay's Xieng Mieng kickstarter which will begin on February 1st and will end on his birthday on February 28th. This is a project that he's been dreaming of doing for over 14 years. It's had numerous iterations, but I think he's ready to finally take this to its next step.
He keeps a website for the book at http://www.xiengmieng.com The character of Xieng Mieng gets mentioned in several poems of mine in my upcoming book, DEMONSTRA. While he's a public domain character, I really enjoy Nor's take and vision for him.
Ultimately, Nor hopes to turn it into a 5-book series collecting and illustrating several of his favorite childhood stories of the Lao folkhero Xieng Mieng, who is known throughout Southeast Asia as the cleverest man in the kingdom. Book 1, which he hopes to fund through Kickstarter, would be a full-color hard-cover edition (hopefully at least 500 copies) that Lao American families and friends can enjoy as a great introduction to this beloved figure.
Nor Sanavongsay is trained in both design and programming of interactive media. He’s created award winning projects for retail giants such as Sears, Motorola, and many others. During his rare off-hours, he donates his time to design posters and flyers for many community services across the US. His main website is at www.nawdsign.com He has presented at SatJadham conferences as well as the National Lao American Writers Summit and the Lao Artists Festival.
When the kickstarter goes live, I hope you'll all consider supporting him on this wonderful endeavor and help us set new standards for Lao American children's books!
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