The mission and the vision
Where can we find Khmer literary sources?
You can find different sources on Khmer literature or about Khmer people and their history throughout major libraries. However, we know for a fact that such sources are limited. For instance, is there any book of prose or poetry written by any Khmer authors? Or, are there many books written by foreigners about Khmer at all? If there were any, it would be limited and not in varieties of topics either. We know, from the responses we get from our readers of Khmer Voice, there are many Khmer writers out there who are actively writing about their past experiences as well as the experiences of other fellow countrymen. Also, there are other Khmer writers who are exploring all kinds of topics including Love, Politics, Philosophy, and Nature. This is very encouraging. Even if we don’t have that many Khmer published writers, we are motivated by the fact that they are out there trying to record our contemporary history.
After the civil war, we have gone through so much pain that most of us do not even want to talk about. Nevertheless, through Khmer Voice in Poetry, we hope we will be able to sort out our emotions and past experiences. Through written form, we are striving to rewrite our past while focusing on our future. We can use the past as our point of reference. It is this reference that should tell us who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. The written form is then one of the most powerful tool during the course of reconstruction. In our Journals, we have published works from an elementary school student to a college student, from a straight A student to an at risk student, from a housewife to a police officer. Moreover, we would like to encourage more Khmers, young and old, men and women, to express themselves in poetry or prose. By having writers on different subject matters, we hope we are able to bridge the gap between generations with different life experiences and ultimately to unite the Cambodian people through Khmer Voice: The Cambodian Literary Connection.