On today's episode we welcome Nui Wilson, Frances Lu Pai Ippolito, and Gigi Little, collaborators on the new picture book A Tree of My Own, from Portland's Qlin Press.
Nui Wilson is the book’s author. She’s a Karen woman who was born and raised in Western Thailand. She moved to the U.S. in 2007, at a time many Karen refugees were resettling here. Nui worked with several non-profit groups to help with their transition. And she’s worked with the Karen community for almost 20 years now in Utah, Oregon, and Thailand. A Tree of My Own is her first book and the first in a series she’s planning on the experiences of Karen refugees.
Frances Lu Pai Ippolito is the book’s editor. She’s a Chinese-American judge, writer, and indie publisher, whose stories have appeared in Nailed Magazine, the Buckman Journal, and several anthologies. She’s a member of the Horror Writers Association, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and Northwest Independent Writer’s Association, and mentors young writers here in Portland.
Gigi Little is the book’s art director and its cover and interior designer. She’s a writer, illustrator, and book designer in Portland, and, in my opinion, one of the top cover artists in the country. She edited the story anthology City of Weird, from Forest Avenue Press, and her debut novel Who Killed One the Gun? is forthcoming from Forest Avenue in Fall 2025. Gigi also is one of the organizers of the annual Portland Writers Picnic, which, as you’ll find out, plays an important part in how A Tree of My Own came into being.
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