Redlands Daily

Article Published: Thursday, March 03, 2005 - 11:43:31 AM PST

 

Editor of Cambodian anthology will visit Riverside library

RIVERSIDE Riverside Public Library invites the public to meet author and editor Sharon May when she presents her new book, "In the Shadow of Angkor: Contemporary Writing from Cambodia," at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 5, in the library's main branch.

Edited by Frank Stewart with May as feature editor, this new anthology includes fiction, personal essays, poetry, memoirs and rap lyrics, as well as evocative photographs by Richard Murai. It is the first collection of current Cambodian literature to appear since the 1979 defeat of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Marking the recovery of the work of a generation of lost writers, it also documents the inspiring rise of a new generation of writers and artists following the Khmer Rouge's attempt to destroy literature and libraries in Cambodia.

Sharon May worked in refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border and conducted research on the Khmer Rouge for Columbia University's Center for the Study of Human Rights. Her stories and photographs have appeared in a number of periodicals and books. She is completing a collection of short stories.

May will present PowerPoint images and sounds from Cambodia as she discusses and reads from her work on this project.

Two Cambodian writers from the region will join May. Say-Vun Khov, a survivor of the Cambodian holocaust and graduate of Smith College, works in an architectural firm in addition to writing poetry. Khov made her poetry-reading debut last year at Los Angeles' prestigious Newer Poets event at the Mark Taper Auditorium. She has had several readings since then and six of her poems will be published in a forthcoming anthology.

Prach Ly, the young rap artist from Long Beach whose first independent CD was pirated and rapidly rose to the top of the charts in Phnom Penh, is no stranger to Riverside. Ly delighted audiences at local schools and at Riverside Public Library last year.

Since that time, he has toured 23 U.S. states celebrating the 25th anniversary of the defeat of the Khmer Rouge with performances, film screenings and discussions. Recently returned from his first trip back to Cambodia since he fled with his parents as an infant, Ly is now completing his third CD, "Dalama: Memoirs of the Invisible War."

There is no charge for the program.

The main branch of the Riverside Public Library is at 3581 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside.

Information: Kathryn Morton, cultural programs coordinator, Riverside Public Library (951) 8265541. General library program information: (951) 8265369.