Somanos Sar

Somanos Sar was born in Cambodia in 1965. He was nine years old when the Khmer Rouge seized power and emptied the country’s cities of their inhabitants. Thus began nearly four years of an ultra-Maoist regime that would claim the lives of close to two million people out of a population of approximately seven million.

From this shattered childhood and those deadly years came his first book, *Apocalypse khmère*, published in 2003 by Jean Picollec. The work, which bears witness to a child’s experience of one of the most tragic episodes in modern history, was rewarded in 2025 the Special Prize from the AFD (French Development Agency).

In 2007, he published *L’Ombre d’un doute* with Éditions des Deux Encres, a work of fiction tracing the journey of a young man facing a terminal illness. In 2008, the novel won the prize awarded by "Phnom Penh Accueil," the literary association for French expatriates in Cambodia.

2009 saw the release of *Thmeng Chey* (Jean Picollec), a satirical tale recounting the escapades of a boy with boundless mischief, set in a world where humor meets social commentary.

After a long hiatus dedicated to his career in civil aviation and information technology, Somanos Sar has returned to writing. He is currently introducing his first book to a new audience through an English translation.

His books are deeply shaped by his personal history as well as his attachment to Cambodia, its culture, and its people. Blending memoir, fiction, and satire, his work explores memory, resilience, and the paradoxes of a society profoundly transformed by its history.