
Venom
by Saneh Sangsuk
£10.00
Winner of an English PEN Translates Award 2023
The village of Praeknamdang, nestled in the Thai jungle, has fallen under the spell of a corrupt religious leader. Only one family dares to resist his growing power: a couple and their talented ten-year-old son. But one day, while playing in the fields, the boy is attacked by a cobra. Locked in a life and death struggle with the snake, the border between the human and the animal disintegrates. Did the boy simply stray too near to a burrow, or is this a punishment for his family’s independent spirit? A gripping existential parable, Venom introduces English language readers to the world of Saneh Sangsuk. Lush, raw and lyrical, this is storytelling at its finest.
96pp, paperback with flaps, £10
ISBN 978-1-908670-79-3
Publication date: 8 May 2023
Press & Reviews
‘A perfect blend of sharply observed naturalism and subtle allegory – Venom will delight and intrigue its new readers and find an enduring place in world literature.’ - John Gray, author of Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life and False Dawn: the Delusions of Global Capitalism
‘A vivid fable of power and resistance, this story will continue to resonate long after the last page has been read.’ - Jessie Greengrass, author of The High House and Sight
About The Book
Translator
Mui Poopoksakul is a lawyer turned translator. Her book-length translations include works by contemporary Thai authors Prabda Yoon and Duanwad Pimwana. For her translation of Sangsuk’s The Understory, she was awarded a PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant. Mui lives in Berlin, Germany.