Phina SO (Phina)
Phnom Penh
Artist (writer/performer/filmmaker/visual artist etc), Arts Manager/ Administrator, Policy/ research
Khmer Literature Festival, Cambodian Living Arts Fellows Network
SO Phina is also the Manager of the Knowledge Networks and Policy Program at Cambodian Living Arts. Within the program she runs the Living Arts Fellows program, a cultural leadership program for Cambodian artists, managers, researchers and policymakers with a strong component on developing knowledge and networks within South East Asia. Within the KNP program Phina also curates thematic talks, seminars and conferences, manages mobility grants for cultural practitioners and works on collaborations with local and international partners.
Besides her full-time job, Phina is also a writer and poet. She is a co-founder of Slap Paka Khmer, an informal writer's collective which mission is to provide opportunity and platform for writers to express their literary creativity, co-founder of Kampu Mera editions – through which she and her peers have published three anthologies, a historical novel, and two translation books, and in 2017 she founded the Khmer Literature Festival. The festival saw its third edition in 2019 in Phnom Penh, after the 2018 program doubled in size and scope versus the first year. In the long term, Phina wishes to see the literary festival in every province and town. In addition, she is committed to a few writing projects and working on a bilingual contemporary poetry project. Three of her short stories have been translated and published in various international magazines.
Besides her full-time job, Phina is also a writer and poet. She is a co-founder of Slap Paka Khmer, an informal writer's collective which mission is to provide opportunity and platform for writers to express their literary creativity, co-founder of Kampu Mera editions – through which she and her peers have published three anthologies, a historical novel, and two translation books, and in 2017 she founded the Khmer Literature Festival. The festival saw its third edition in 2019 in Phnom Penh, after the 2018 program doubled in size and scope versus the first year. In the long term, Phina wishes to see the literary festival in every province and town. In addition, she is committed to a few writing projects and working on a bilingual contemporary poetry project. Three of her short stories have been translated and published in various international magazines.