Chan Samoeun wrote about his experiences under the Khmer Rouge in vivid detail more than nearly forty-five years ago, almost immediately after the regime’s collapse. The result, Prisoners of Class, is one of the earliest and most detailed long-form accounts ever written about life in Democratic Kampuchea, until now only accessible in the original Khmer.

Now, for the first time, an English translation of Prisoners of Class has just been published. Craig Etcheson describes it, in comparison with other memoirs, as “the most raw, immediate, and honest of them all” and Sebastian Strangio calls it “a priceless new addition to the testimonial literature on the Khmer Rouge.”

Author Chan Samoeun (a.k.a. Oum Sambath) and translator Matthew Madden will both be present to talk about the book and its path to translation.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.