Highlighting Khmer Stories

In Cambodian Grrrl: Self-Publishing in Phnom Penh, writer and independent publisher Anne Elizabeth Moore brings her experience in the American cultural underground to Cambodia, a country known mostly for the savage extermination of around 2 million of its own under the four-year reign of the Khmer Rouge. Following the publication of her critically acclaimed book Unmarketable and the demise of the magazine she co-published, Punk Planet, and armed with the knowledge that the second generation of genocide survivors in Cambodia had little knowledge of their country’s brutal history, Moore disembarked to Southeast Asia hoping to teach young women how to make zines. What she learned instead were brutal truths about women’s rights, the politics of corruption, the failures of democracy, the mechanism of globalization, and a profound emotional connection that can only be called love. Moore’s fascinating story from the cusp of the global economic meltdown is a look at her time with the first all-women’s dormitory in the history of the country, just kilometers away from the notorious Killing Fields. Her tale is a noble one, as heartbreaking as it is hilarious; staunchly ethical yet conflicted and human. The in-depth examination of Moore’s stint among the first large group of social-justice-minded young women from the impoverished provinces is told in intimate, mood-evocative, beautifully-written first-person prose. Cambodian Grrrl is the first in a series of short essay collections on contemporary media, art, and educational work by, for, and with young women in Southeast Asia. Part memoir and part investigative report, Moore’s story could only be told by her, and the result is illuminating, and vital, reading.

The engrossing report on young Cambodian women’s struggles for human rights and media justice continues in this follow-up to the critically acclaimed Cambodian Grrrl. This account explains how, in an attempt to help long-suffering Cambodian women in the post–Khmer Rouge regime archive their own stories, history was rewritten. Combining a modern understanding of the country and a wealth of historical knowledge, this firsthand account explains how modern Cambodia is attempting to recover from the crippling imperialism and state-backed genocide of the Khmer Rouge government. Seeking to gain more international news coverage and become part of the United States public’s consciousness, this unique commentary on the current state of affairs of a country not frequented by American tourism gives readers the first American viewpoint on the subject since the 1970s.

In her debut collection, Monica Sok uses poetry to reshape a family’s memory about the Khmer Rouge regime―memory that is both real and imagined―according to a child of refugees. Driven by myth-making and fables, the poems examine the inheritance of the genocide and the profound struggles of searing grief and PTSD. Though the landscape of Cambodia is always present, it is the liminal space, the in-betweenness of diaspora, in which younger generations must reconcile their history and create new rituals. A Nail the Evening Hangs On seeks to reclaim the Cambodian narrative with tenderness and an imagination that moves towards wholeness and possibility.

Across a Bridge of Fire is the stunning story of the author’s catastrophic childhood injury, teenage restlessness, and ultimate journey to helping the refugees and displaced survivors of the Cambodian genocide in the wake of the Vietnam War.

At the age of ten, Scott Allen suffered a life-changing burn that landed him in the hospital for months—and changed his life forever. His time spent among the critically injured nurtured within him a deep unease and well of compassion—that shook him from his suburban teenage home and landed him in the heart of the Cambodian refugee crisis of the early 1980s.

His detailed and emotional recounting of the survival stories of the refugees, deep relationships formed with the residents of the camps, and his fellow relief workers would leave an indelible mark on his life and shape a life dedicated to service.

A stunning visual journey through Cambodian culture, history, art, struggle, and modernization.

Cambodia has two parallel histories. One is the constant stream of adventurers and diplomats, kings and rebels, archaeologists and artists drawn to the magnificent ruins at Angkor. Another is the formation of a nation through the Cambodian people's fierce struggles with colonialism, war, revolution, famine, and finally, the long road to recovery.

This book captures these parallel stories through the eyes of talented photographers who were present to record such events. The images, which include many rare and never-before-published photos, are drawn from archives, national collections, libraries, and private collections.

This treasure trove of nearly 500 photographs showcases the work of over 100 photographers—including pioneering female photographers, Cambodian and international photographers, and some who died soon after the rise of the Khmer Rouge.

Within these pages, readers will find a fresh perspective on Cambodia. From the early days of French colonialism through the struggle for independence, and emergence into an uneasy peace in the 21st century.

Embark on a delightful morning with a Cambodian-American family at their cherished donut shop. With an array of tempting treats on display and steaming hot coffee, customers eagerly await their orders in pink boxes. Our Donut Shop is a heartwarming children's book that offers a peek into the world of small, family-run operations and the Cambodian American families behind these enterprises. Join us for a morning at Our Donut Shop!

A vibrant story collection about Cambodian-American life—immersive and comic, yet unsparing—that offers profound insight into the intimacy of queer and immigrant communities

Seamlessly transitioning between the absurd and the tenderhearted, balancing acerbic humor with sharp emotional depth, Afterparties offers an expansive portrait of the lives of Cambodian-Americans. As the children of refugees carve out radical new paths for themselves in California, they shoulder the inherited weight of the Khmer Rouge genocide and grapple with the complexities of race, sexuality, friendship, and family.

A high school badminton coach and failing grocery store owner tries to relive his glory days by beating a rising star teenage player. Two drunken brothers attend a wedding afterparty and hatch a plan to expose their shady uncle’s snubbing of the bride and groom. A queer love affair sparks between an older tech entrepreneur trying to launch a “safe space” app and a disillusioned young teacher obsessed with Moby-Dick. And in the sweeping final story, a nine-year-old child learns that his mother survived a racist school shooter.

The stories in Afterparties, “powered by So’s skill with the telling detail, are like beams of wry, affectionate light, falling from different directions on a complicated, struggling, beloved American community” (George Saunders).

A courageous and poignant memoir of one young man's daring escape from Cambodia's genocidal regime

Forced from his home by the Khmer Rouge, teenager Mae Taing struggles to endure years of backbreaking work, constant starvation, and ruthless cruelty from his captors--supposed freedom fighters who turned against their own people. Mae risks torture and death to escape into the dark tropical jungles, trekking across a relentless wilderness crawling with soldiers.

When Mae is able to overcome unthinkable odds in the hopes of reuniting with his family, fate takes a cruel turn as he flees war-torn Cambodia. He becomes trapped as a refugee with thousands of others on the ancient temple mountain, Preah Vihear, a place surrounded by countless deadly landmines. Caught up in the terror once more, it is only his willpower to survive and dreams of a better country that give Mae the strength to face the dangers ahead.

This gripping and inspiring memoir, written with Mae's son, James, is not merely an incredible story of survival, but a testament to the human spirit's capacity in us all to endure and prevail in spite of great adversity. Under the Naga Tail will find its place among the most epic true stories of personal triumph.

Voices of a New Generation: Cambodian Americans in the Creative Arts presents the experiences of fifteen Cambodian American artists, from martial arts experts to filmmakers, from fashion designers to rappers. The artists who share their stories in this book are members of the 1.5 and 2.0 generations: the sons and daughters of refugees from the Khmer Rouge regime.

Most U.S. history textbooks, if they include Southeast Asian Americans at all, lump them together, usually in one chapter. They inform the reader in a few paragraphs that there was war in "Indochina" in the 1960s and 70s which resulted in thousands of refugees relocating to the U.S. beginning in the 1980s. And while this is true, a cursory mention certainly does not reflect the diversity of experiences of these communities, or the individuals within these different communities.

Even within the discipline of Asian American studies, the curricula have rarely or barely included the experiences of Southeast Asian Americans, especially Cambodian Americans. My hope is that this book can shed light on some of these collective experiences and individual journeys and inspire us to share more.

Year of the Rabbit tells the true story of one family’s desperate struggle to survive the murderous reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized power in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Immediately after declaring victory in the war, they set about evacuating the country’s major cities with the brutal ruthlessness and disregard for humanity that characterized the regime ultimately responsible for the deaths of one million citizens.

Cartoonist Tian Veasna was born just three days after the Khmer Rouge takeover, as his family set forth on the chaotic mass exodus from Phnom Penh. Year of the Rabbit is based on firsthand accounts, all told from the perspective of his parents and other close relatives. Stripped of any money or material possessions, Veasna’s family found themselves exiled to the barren countryside along with thousands of others, where food was scarce and brutal violence a constant threat.

Year of the Rabbit shows the reality of life in the work camps, where Veasna’s family bartered for goods, where children were instructed to spy on their parents, and where reading was proof positive of being a class traitor. Constantly on the edge of annihilation, they realized there was only one choice―they had to escape Cambodia and become refugees. Veasna has created a harrowing, deeply personal account of one of the twentieth century’s greatest tragedies.

In a century of mass atrocities, the Khmer Rouge regime marked Cambodia with one of the most extreme genocidal instances in human history. What emerged in the aftermath of the regime's collapse in 1979 was a nation fractured by death and dispersal. It is estimated that nearly one-fourth of the country's population perished from hard labor, disease, starvation, and executions. Another half million Cambodians fled their ancestral homeland, with over one hundred thousand finding refuge in America.

From the Land of Shadows surveys the Cambodian diaspora and the struggle to understand and make meaning of this historical trauma. Drawing on more than 250 interviews with survivors across the United States as well as in France and Cambodia, Khatharya Um places these accounts in conversation with studies of comparative revolutions, totalitarianism, transnationalism, and memory works to illuminate the pathology of power as well as the impact of auto-genocide on individual and collective healing. Exploring the interstices of home and exile, forgetting and remembering, From the Land of Shadows follows the ways in which Cambodian individuals and communities seek to rebuild connections frayed by time, distance, and politics in the face of this injurious history.

A collection of writings and reflections on the writer's Khmer/Krom identity, figuring out where home is, history and culture.

Like a Dandelion is a poetic tribute to the bravery of immigrants and refugees, inspired by the author’s childhood experience of moving to the United States from Cambodia.

Like feathery seeds, a young girl and her mother take flight, putting down roots in an adopted country. Soon they blossom in their new home, strong and beautiful among hundreds of others just like them.

Huy Voun Lee's text is gentle and lyrical, making for an excellent storytime or bedtime read. The story is based on Huy’s own childhood experience of moving to the US as a Cambodian refugee.

Text and art work together to beautifully illustrate the passing of the seasons, and the dandelion’s growth from seed to shoot to blossom is a sunny, poignant metaphor for the resilience of immigrants and refugees.

Includes backmatter information on the history and uses of dandelions.

What comes first, the photograph or the memory?

The daughter of Cambodian refugees, Ai grew up in the small Australian town of Whitlam populated by Asian immigrants who once fled war-torn countries to rebuild their shattered lives. It is now the late '90s and despite their parents' harrowing past, Ai and her tightknit group of school friends: charismatic Brigitte, sweet, endearing Bowie, shy, inscrutable Tin, and politically minded Sying, lead seemingly ordinary lives, far removed from the unimaginable horrors suffered by their parents.

But that carefree innocence is shattered in their last year of school when Ai and her friends encounter a pair of racist men whose cruel acts of intimidation spiral into senseless violence. Grappling with the magnitude of her grief at such a young age, Ai leaves Whitlam for college before her trauma has a chance to fully resolve.

In her second year of college Ai suffers a mental health crisis, driving her back home to Whitlam, a place she swore never to return. There, she reconnects with those she left behind and together they are compelled to look back on the tragedy that shaped their adolescence and examine the role they may have unwittingly played.

Cambodian Author and Opera Librettist Releases Memoir.

Groundbreaking memoir by Cambodian author Sokunthary Svay. An unconventional collection of essays and photographs, PUT IT ON RECORD: A MEMOIR-ARCHIVE explores the past present and future of Cambodian literature.

"Sokunthary Svay's PUT IT ON RECORD surveys a wide breadth of form and expression. The collection speaks to the multiplicities of selves that each of us embodies, yet it is also a window into one artist's deeply personal experience. It is suffused with echoes of the longing and struggle that resonate through the Cambodian diaspora."--VADDEY RATNER, New York Times bestselling author of In the Shadow of the Banyan and Music of the Ghosts