Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar Hosts Vaddey Ratner

Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) today will be hosting a book-reading session for Cambodian writer and royal Vaddey Ratner’s debut novel In The Shadow Of The Banyan.

Of royal lineage as the great-great granddaughter of the late 20th century King Sisowath of Cambodia, Vaddey Ratner carries the official title of Princess to this day. As a five-year old, she and her family were driven from their home in Phnom Penh at the time when the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975.

Her book is a heart-rending true-life tale of human resilience amid horror, the redemptive promise of stories, and the enduring power of love. Ratner poignantly relates her family’s four-year ordeal of separation, forced labor, starvation, execution and death.

First published in June 2013, the book has been selected as a finalist for the 2013 PEN/Hemingway Award and is a 2013 Indies Choice Honor Book recipient.

Gerd Nonneman, Dean of GU-Qatar, said: “The book reading is organized as part our endeavor to offer rich and varied perspectives to our students to enhance their literary awareness. But as always, we want to share our good fortune of being able to bring such an acclaimed author to Georgetown, with the wider community in Doha. Book readings and discussions help rekindle an interest in literature, amidst the distractions of today’s technology-driven world. Vaddy Ratner’s work is testament to the indomitable human spirit of survival amidst adversity. It takes the reader through an extremely emotional journey, against the historical backdrop of the revolution in Cambodia.”

“I didn’t want simply to translate my family’s experience to a foreign audience; I wished to take the readers and replant them in the fertile ground I’d sprung from, to let them take root and sprout, and to see my world as their own. I wanted them to see Cambodia before it became synonymous with genocide, before it became the ‘killing fields’.”

“I’m thrilled to be in Qatar and to be visiting the Georgetown University campus here. It is always deeply fulfilling to meet readers whom the book has touched from all walks of life and from all corners of the world. I’m so looking forward to interacting with students, staff and faculty at Georgetown University — Qatar, and with the broader public in the evening event. I’d like to thank the University for granting me this opportunity and offering a stimulating platform to discuss my novel. While my stay is short, I hope that my connection with the people here and in the region will be lasting.”

“Mine is a very personal story, but when I see how it resonates with others, I’m reminded how universal these themes of loss and perseverance and hope amidst adversity really are.”

Vaddy Ratner arrived in the US as a refugee in 1981 with no prior knowledge of English. In 1990, she went on to graduate as her high school class valedictorian in Minnesota. A summa cum laude graduate of Cornell University, she specialized in Southeast Asian history and literature. In recent years, she has traveled and lived in Cambodia and Southeast Asia, writing and researching. She currently lives in Potomac, Maryland, US with her husband and daughter.