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Chanrithy Him
Child Survivor, International Speaker, Social Justice Activist, Author & Khmer Classical Dancer.
Winner of the Oregon Book Award
Finalist for the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize
Finalist for the Pen USA West Literary Award
Welcome to my website!
As a passionate storyteller and international speaker, I delight in engaging with my audiences. My approach blends insightful narratives with a touch of good-natured humor, particularly during interactive Q&A sessions.
I'm thrilled to have you here and look forward to sharing my experiences and stories with you.
Poem from When Broken Glass Floats
Please Give Us Voice
When Broken Glass Floats, a nation drowns,
Descending to the abyss.
From mass graves in the once-gentle land,
Their blood seeps into mother earth.
Their suffering spirits whisper to her,
“Why has this happened?”
Their voice resounds in the spirit world,
Shouts through the souls of survivors,
Determined to connect, begging the world:
Please remember us.
Please speak for us.
Please bring us justice.
~ Chanrithy Him
Union College Professor Bunkong Tuon analyzed "Please Give Us Voice" in his sophisticated article ("The Ghostly Presence in Chanrithy Him's 'Please Give Us Voice,'" published in Mosaic: a journal for the interdisciplinary study of literature, Volume 47, Number 1, March 2014, pp 145-160.
Echoes of Resilience: A Reader's Tribute Poem to When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge
“Hi Chanrithy,...Your memoir, When Broken Glass Floats, profoundly impacted me after discovering it in Siem Reap and reading it in Phnom Penh. The insights into Cambodia's war and your survival story are compelling and heartbreaking, particularly after visiting the killing fields. I've penned a poem in honor of your bravery, and in memory of all the children affected by the war.”
~ Liby Pueblos, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - April 15, 2013
*I Shall Be Brave*
I am next in line
What will become of me
I had long since feared death
But it frightens me no more
Now, more than ever, I shall be brave.
Take me back to the time
Before they took Pa away
And returned with the news of his death
Before they sent Mak to hospital to heal
Why was she buried alive with the dead?
Take me back please, if you can
To the time when I can just be who I am
Am I not only a child who wants to play
And go to school, and learn and read
And be back home at the end of the day?
Forget me not please, I beg
Tell me your time is different from mine
No more suffering, no more war
Tell me, have the elders finally learned
That anyone who pains another will lose in the end?
Let the moon and the trees be my witness
Pa and Mak, I shall be brave tonight
For in my heart, I well believe
They may have killed my hope for another day
But never had they broken my will to live.
