Some people have witnessed the killing of their husbands, or they survived other horrific things. My sister is a widow but her husband was killed after the Khmer Rouge. There are different periods in which violence has occurred, and differences in how these women became widowed and how they survived afterwards.

In This Body Mystery, even though it was written in the voice of people with HIV/AIDS, it's about how people come to accept their fate and their sickness. It's about accepting the way your life is.

Sometimes the mere connection we make with each other can change people's lives. It doesn't have to be something big. The mere fact that you're interested in them makes them happy.

A lot of my work is process-oriented. I delve into my work and sit alone in silence and work with the material and process it, like talking to yourself.

It's really hard when you read literature in a language that's not your own. There are all these cultural references you have to be born into that particular language to get.

In Cambodian culture the male figure in the family is important; when you lose your husband you lose your economic ability to survive.

I write and I write and a lot of times I go back to the American lens, though sometimes it's a struggle to come from that perspective.