U Sam Oeur
| U Sam Oeur | |
|---|---|
| Roles | Author |
| Active | since 1998 |
| Based in | United States |
| Subjects | History & Remembrance; Language & Literacy; Literature & Storytelling; Religion & Spiritual Life |
Cambodian poet and memoirist who survived the Khmer Rouge period and translated Walt Whitman into Khmer.
U Sam Oeur is a Cambodian poet and memoirist who served as a member of the Parliament of Cambodia and on the Cambodian delegation to the United Nations. He survived four years in Khmer Rouge camps by feigning illiteracy and destroying his manuscripts. His poetry collection Sacred Vows was published in 1998 and his memoir Crossing Three Wildernesses in 2005. He lives in Texas, where he translates the poetry of Walt Whitman into Khmer. (Wikipedia: U Sam Oeur; Lannan Center, Georgetown University; Coffee House Press book page)