PODCAST: Interview with Body Poetry Series' founders Chris Crawford and Philip "PJ" Heijmans

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totallyrandomman speaks to "Body Poetry Series" founders Chris Crawford and Philip "PJ" Heijmans about the origins of the series and this Saturday's event; including performances by American poet John C Brown and spoken word slam poet and tattoo artist Kosal Khiev

The next Body Series poetry night will be on Saturday the 8th of October from 7:30pm at Java Cafe on Sihanouk Boulevard.

John Brownis an American poet and short story writer based in Phnom Penh. Though he favours a multiplicity of voices and poetic forms. His love for rhythm and rhyme in poetry, and his preference for more lyrical, narrative poetic forms is rooted in a childhood spent in Mississippi.

John first came to Phnom Penh in 1992 while in graduate school. He has since worked in community survey work in the area of humanitarian mine action in Armenia, Eritrea, Somaliland, Iraq and Cambodia. Though much of his poetry is disengaged from specific time and space, he will read from work that focuses on Cambodia, Iraq and Mississippi.

John splits his time between Phnom Penh and Ratanakiri where he runs an agricultural project protecting endangered tree farms on the Se San River. The long-term goal for the project is to create a secure seed source for Cambodia’s increasingly endangered luxury woods.

Some of his poetry and short stories can be found on his blog "Fragments, Fabrications and Falsehoods."

Kosal Khiev is a spoken word artist who uses spoken word to define moments in his life. Since his arrival in Cambodia in April 2011 he has shared many of his works with the Cambodian community.

He was born on March 12th, 1980 in a refugee camp along the Thai-Cambodian border. After several moves to find the right community to raise a family, his family finally resettled in California.

Growing up, Kosal Khiev faced many obstacles and questions of belonging. At home, he would speak Khmer and follow the Cambodian tradition but outside of his home was another world.

Growing up in 1980s California, poverty affected his decisions and at the age of 16 he was caught in a gang war and charged with attempted murder. Tried as an adult, he was sentence to 16 years in California Prison.

During his time of incarceration he put himself through education by getting involved with many various self-help programmes. Upon his release he was deported to Cambodia, another world which he knew nothing about. Currently living in Phnom Penh, he is trying to keep his hopes and dreams alive despite his long journey.

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