I met Anthony Veasna So for an interview over Zoom last year. Throughout our conversation, Anthony was hilarious, brilliant, and kind. The interview had been scheduled for thirty minutes; we spoke for almost four hours. Anthony and I agreed to work together on editing down the interview transcript and adding clarifications where necessary, but we never got the chance. Anthony passed away on December 8th, 2020, at the age of 28.
In collaboration with Anthony’s partner, Alex Torres, we’ve decided to publish a condensed version of this interview, as a way of honoring Anthony’s remarkable life and work. It has been edited for clarity. I hope that after reading it, you will consider buying a copy of Anthony’s beautiful collection of short stories, Afterparties, out August 3rd from Ecco Press.
In full: https://softpunkmag.com/essay/i-want-reading-to-save-people-anthony-veasna-so
