Chuth Khay / ខ្ជិត ខ្យៃ (ហៅ ជុតខៃ) is a

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

n writer and translator. He was born in 1940 in Koh Somrong, Cambodia, an island on the Mekong about one hundred kilometers north of the capital. The youngest son, he was the only one in a family of ten children to attend a Western school. He pursued primary and secondary studies in Kampong Cham. While working as a teacher of French, he attended classes at the Royal University of Phnom Penh and, in 1968, received his law degree. Opposed to the monarchy, he became a legal advisor to the Ministry of Defense after

Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in various capacities throughout hi ...

's removal from power in 1970. From 1973 to 1974, he served as interim dean of the law school. In 1973, he published two successful collections of short stories: ''Ghouls, Ghosts, and Other Infernal Creatures'' and ''Widow of Five Husbands''. He also wrote for

Soth Polin Soth Polin ( km, សុទ្ធ ប៉ូលីន) is a famous Cambodian writer. He was born in the hamlet of Chroy Thmar, Kampong Siem District, Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. His maternal great-grandfather was the poet Nou Kan (who wrote ...

's newspaper, ''Nokor Thom'' (នគរធំ), and published his books and translations with its publishing house. Forced into the countryside by the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 197 ...

, he miraculously escaped death by pretending to be mute. Granted refuge in France in 1980 and French citizenship, he took the name Chuth Chance, for receiving a second chance in life. He worked for several years as a taxi driver, and is now retired and lives near Paris.

Publications

Books (in Khmer)

* ខ្មោចព្រាយអសុរកាយ (''Ghouls, Ghosts, and Other Infernal Creatures'', Phnom Penh, 1973; republished by SIPAR in 2018) * មេម៉ាយប្ដី ៥ (''Widow of Five Husbands'', Phnom Penh, 1973)
កូនក្របីមានមនោញ្ចេតនា
(''A Sentimental Baby Buffalo''), SIPAR, Phnom Penh, 2010. * វិប្បដិសារី (''Remorse''), Angkor Publishing, 2008. * មេម៉ាយពីរបែប * ក្មេងសាលាបារាំង (''A Young Boy in the French School''), SIPAR, Phnom Penh, 2010. * ក្មេងវត្ត (''A Pagoda Kid During the French Time''), illustrated by Chan Vitharin, SIPAR, Phnom Penh, 2010. * ៣២ឆ្នាំក្រោយមក (''32 years later''), Editions Angkor, Phnom Penh, 2018.

Translations (to Khmer)

* ក្រុមបេរេបៃតង ( ''The Green Berets'' by

Robin Moore Robert Lowell Moore Jr. (October 31, 1925 – February 21, 2008) was an American writer who wrote ''The Green Berets'', '' The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy'', and with Xaviera Hollander and ...

, Phnom Penh, Nokor Thom, ?) * បុត្រឆ្នើមនៃសង្គ្រាម ( ''The Centurions'' by

Jean Lartéguy Jean Lartéguy (5 September 1920 in Maisons-Alfort – 23 February 2011) was the pen name of Jean Pierre Lucien Osty, a French writer, journalist, and former soldier. Larteguy is credited with first envisioning the "ticking time bomb" scenar ...

, Phnom Penh, Nokor Thom, 1971) * ជញ្ជាំង ( ''The Wall'' by

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialist, existentialism (and Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter ...

, Phnom Penh, Nokor Thom, 1971) * លោកឯកអគ្គរដ្ឋទូត ( ''The Ambassador'' by

Morris West Morris Langlo West (26 April 19169 October 1999) was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels '' The Devil's Advocate'' (1959), '' The Shoes of the Fisherman'' (1963) and ''The Clowns of God'' (1981). His books were pub ...

, Phnom Penh, Nokor Thom, 1971)

Books (in French)

''Comment j'ai menti aux Khmers Rouges''

L'Harmattan Éditions L'Harmattan, usually known simply as L'Harmattan (), is one of the largest French book publishers. It specialises in non-fiction books with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named after the Harmattan, a trade wind in ...

, 2004, 309p.
''L'Indochine vietnamienne''
Le Lys Bleu Éditions, 2022, 536p.

Translations of his works

* ''Un fantôme au coeur de Phnom-Penh'', short story translated to French by Chuth Khay and Alain Daniel, Éditions du Serpent à Plumes, 27, Spring 1995, p. 11-14.
''Goules, démons, et autres créatures infernales...''
translated from Khmer to French by Christophe Macquet, in Revue Europe, "Écrivains du Cambodge", 81e année, N° 889 / Mai 2003. See als
Revue bilingue MEET
n°15, ''Porto Rico / Phnom Penh'', 2011.
''Ghouls, Ghosts, and Other Infernal Creatures''
translated from Khmer to French by Christophe Macquet and from French to English by Daniela Hurezanu
''In the Shadow of Angkor: Contemporary Writing From Cambodia''
Manoa,

University of Hawaii Press A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

(2004). * かわいい水牛の子, ''A Sentimental Baby Buffalo''; 寺の子ども, ''A Pagoda Kid During the French Time''; フランス学校の子ども, ''A Young Boy in the French School''. Translated into Japanese by Tomoko Okada, in ''Tsuioku no kanbojia'' (追憶のカンボジア),

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies , often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan. TUFS is primarily devoted to foreign language, international affairs and foreign studies. It also features an Asia-African institution. History The Uni ...

Press, (東京外国語大学出版会), 2014.

References

* ''Écrivains et expressions littéraires du Cambodge au XXe s. Contribution à l'histoire de la littérature khmère'', by Khing Hoc Dy, vol. 2,

, 1993. * អក្សរសិល្ប៍ខ្មែរសតវត្សទី២០, (''Anthology of Khmer Literature: 20th Century''), by Khing Hoc Dy, Phnom Penh, Ed. de La Plus Haute Tour, 2002, 665 p.
''Five Cambodian Writers''
by Christophe Macquet, in Europe, French magazine, 81e année, N° 889 / Mai 2003. Republished i
Revue bilingue MEET
n°15, Bilingual Khmer/French edition, ''Porto Rico / Phnom Penh'', 2011.
''In the Shadow of Angkor: Contemporary Writing From Cambodia''
Manoa,

(2004)

External links

* ''Les pensionnaires de la pagode, un bijou de la littérature khmère'', by Anne-Laure Porée, in

Cambodge Soir ''Cambodge Soir'' was a weekly newspaper published in Cambodia and it was the most important French language Cambodian newspaper of the country. It was edited in Phnom Penh and distributed in different Cambodian provinces, among French speakin ...

, December 27, 2005, p16. * ''Chuth Khay l'insoumis a choisi l'écriture comme exutoire'', by Anne-Laure Porée, in

, January 2, 2007, p12.
''L’éducation monastique et scolaire dans le Cambodge rural à la fin de l’époque coloniale, selon l’écrivain Chuth Khay''
by Steven Prigent, March 2016.
''Chuth Khay – Cambodia’s Charles Dickens''
by Taing Rinith, Khmer Times, October 25, 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chuth, Khay Cambodian male writers Translators to Khmer People from Kampong Cham province Cambodian emigrants to France 1940 births Living people Cambodian short story writers Male short story writers 20th-century short story writers 20th-century male writers 20th-century translators 21st-century short story writers 21st-century male writers 21st-century translators Cambodian translators Cambodian taxi drivers