I have a great advantage: I write from the perspective of my own voice. I'm not copying anyone's voice. It's my voice. I have the advantage of being a writer of English as a second language.

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.

All throughout my work, even in the United States, I have worked with the greater Cambodian community.

Every day you are bombarded by so many different things. When you sit down to process everything, it can become interesting visually. You can incorporate a lot of those things that you internalize.

Sometimes I fantasize about learning to write in Khmer. Because if I could write in Khmer, my perspective would be very different, because I'm both an outsider and insider and I see the writing in a different way. My description would be different from, say, a local writer.

This is my first collaboration [with Mary Hamill] so I'm going to learn how it's going to work.

When I hear Khmer poets, when they recite their poems, I know what they're talking about, I get it right away.