Cambodian-American poets, writers, and others from the diaspora
- Poetry: Monica Sok, Sokunthary Svay, Pichchenda Bao, Bunkong Tuon, April Lim
- Fiction: Anthony Veasna So, Vaddey Ratner, Vichet Chum, Sambath Meas
- Memoir: Chanta Nguon, Putsata Reang, Chanrithy Him, Tian Veasna, Alice Pung, Mae Bunseng & James Taing, Mayly Tao, Loung Ung
- Other writers: Jean-Baptiste Phou
- Archival projects: Coloring Cambodia, @cambodianarchives, Death in Cambodia Podcast
- Community: mam's books, @beyondthemekong
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
I first discovered the poet Monica Sok when I was fourteen.
At the time, Loung Ung (First They Killed My Father) and Vaddey Ratner (In the Shadow of the Banyan) were the only Cambodian authors that I knew of. Everything I came across from the diaspora recounted the genocide. But make no mistake: this literature is essential. As a pre-teen, I devoured every Cambodian genocide memoir or novel I could find at my local library, seeking answers to the questions I was too afraid to ask my own parents. At some point, however, the weight of these emotions—shaped by the knowledge of what my parents survived, what they lost, and what I inherited—grew too heavy to hold. I needed to understand of the rest of my world.
When I first googled "cambodian american poet," I was desperate to find someone like me, a child of genocide survivors, who could help me make sense of the joy and grief and loss and guilt and nostalgia that I carried. Monica Sok was the first, and at the time, the only writer I found, and has remained one of the most significant people to me. Here I was, alone in my bedroom, reading words that I swore were taken from my own life too:
"I want to know the names of things,
only the names in Khmer.
I want to know the names of trees
whose roots grow on temple roofs.
I don't want to know my uncle was never found.
When my aunts looked for his face, his was not there.
[…]"
—"Yearning", Year Zero
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I will never be able to fully articulate the emotions I felt upon realizing that a writer before me carried this pain too, yet still moved tenderly and powerfully through her life. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to find other Cambodian-American writers over the past decade, both from my parents’ generation and my own. We exist — all of us! I’m in awe of our community and excited for the stories, novels, poems, art, and knowledge we will continue to share with each other and the world. If you found this page by googling “Cambodian-American poets” or “Cambodian-American writers,” I hope this list helps you discover more voices, just as I did.