Book
Khmer Girl
Khmer Girl is a poetry collection by Peuo Tuy, first published in 2014.[1][2] The poems draw on her family's escape from the killing fields of Cambodia and the inequities they faced as refugees and immigrants in the United States.[1][2][3]
About the book
Told as poetic storytelling, the book traces Tuy's path from hardship toward acceptance, as a survivor of the genocide and as a dark-skinned Asian girl and woman in America.[4] In "Reminiscing Elementary," she remembers wanting to fit in with her white classmates and changing how her name was said for her teachers.[4] Other poems include "Bleaching my Skin" and "No Sex in Our Constitution."[4] The paperback has 128 pages and was first published on March 25, 2014.[4]
The poet
Tuy is a spoken-word poet, workshop instructor and community organizer. She is a founding member and former executive director of the Cambodian American Literary Arts Association, and has performed at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the Bowery Poetry Club, the Harlem Book Fair and the Miami Book Fair.[1][2]