Venom

The story of one village, nestled in the Thai jungle, that has fallen under the spell of a mysterious religious leader--and the story of a family’s defiance.

In the village of Praeknamdang, a ten-year-old boy has big dreams of becoming a renowned shadow puppeteer. He and his parents, however, are the objects of a powerful man’s rancor as they alone dare to doubt his claim of being the local goddess’s medium.

One summer day, while out in the fields grazing his beloved oxen and putting on a show for his friends, the boy finds himself locked in a struggle with a giant king cobra, a snake the influential pretender would claim was sent by the goddess to punish him and his family.

Set in the same world as Sangsuk’s beloved novel The Understory, Venom is a parable about an underdog’s fight in a world that conspires against him.

Saneh Sangsuk is an award-winning Thai author. In 2008, he received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) Medal from the French Ministry of Culture for his remarkable contributions to literature. His works have been translated into seven different languages including English, German, French and Spanish. His book White Shadow is considered one of the best 20 novels in Thailand. Currently, he lives in Phetchaburi, Thailand.

Mui Poopoksakul is a lawyer-turned-translator. She was awarded a PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant for her translation of Saneh Sangsuk’s The Understory. She is also the translator of Venom by the same author, for which she received a PEN Translates grant from English PEN. Mui’s other translations include works by contemporary Thai authors Prabda Yoon and Duanwad Pimwana, and she has contributed widely to literary journals since she began her translation career. A native of Bangkok who spent two decades in the U.S., she now lives in Berlin, Germany.