“Dance, like any other art, is a form of worship. . . One false move can break that fragile link between you and your god.”
Vaddey Ratner’s story, “The Cripple’s Last Dance,” in Guernica/PEN Flash Fiction Series
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“Letter from the land of fallen palm leaves.”
Vaddey Ratner’s essay on art, imagination, and survival in THINK Magazine
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“We cannot be motivated to prevent future atrocities if we understand nothing of what has been lost in the past.”
Address to the United Nations Association, New York City, November 2012
UN Association talk
“We live and die because of our words. They can both hide and expose us.”
Address to the PEN/Faulkner Gala, September 2012
PENFaulkner excerpt
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“Our empathy is the highest expression of our shared nobility.”
Essay in Real Simple magazine feature “The Conversation that Changed Me”
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“A story of tragedy, loss, and perseverance is a human story, not confined to Cambodia alone.”
Vaddey Ratner interviewed in Bookmagnet
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“I had to find a voice that was much larger than my own…”
Vaddey Ratner responds to callers on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, broadcast from Washington, DC
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“I did not want the voice of atrocity to be bigger than the voice of humanity.”
Marty Moss-Coane interviews Vaddey Ratner on Radio Times, Philadelphia public radio
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“In the ‘Shadow’ of Death, Stories Survive.”
NPR‘s Lynn Neary interviews Vaddey Ratner on Morning Edition
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“As a survivor, I feel, I enter art to save–to immortalize–those I could not protect as a child.”
Publishing Perspectives interviews Vaddey Ratner
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“Books were my teachers.”
The Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers conversation with Vaddey Ratner
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“A single sentence can unravel a decade of mystery.”
Goodreads interviews Vaddey Ratner for its Debut Author Snapshot
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“Can unspeakable atrocities be transformed into something redemptive?”
Publishers Weekly Talks with Vaddey Ratner
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“Cambodia . . . can make a poet out of you, because you are privy to so much tragedy and so much beauty.”
Bookreporter Author Spotlight Interview
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“Beauty exists, even when it is shielded by savagery.”
Vaddey Ratner interviewed in Southeast Asia Globe
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“A story about love and hope and our desire for continuity…”
The Bookseller interview with Vaddey Ratner
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“What I really wanted to articulate is the strength of our continuity.”
Washington Post profile “Vaddey Ratner, Out of the ‘Shadow’” by Ellen McCarthy
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“How do you fill [a] story with love and light in a world that… looks like unbroken darkness?”
–Judy Wertheimer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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“Vaddey Ratner emerges from the ‘Shadow’ of her childhood.”
–Deirdre Donahue, USA TODAY
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“‘Banyan’ lifts the veil on Cambodia’s nightmare.”
–Drew Toal, NPR
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“It was as if artistic expression was synonymous with survival.”
Phnom Penh Post features Vaddey Ratner in its review of new fiction, by Rosa Ellen.
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Psychology Today selects IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN for its list of “Novels You Don’t Want to Miss.”
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“The entire novel is pervaded by [a] lush sense of hope.”
–Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal
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New York Magazine features IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN among the “Ten Hottest Prospects” of Book Expo 2012
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Publishers Weekly selects IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN for its 2012 “Firsts in Fiction” list
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IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN shortlisted for the Indies Choice 2013 Book of the Year — Adult Debut
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IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN named 2013 PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist
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New York Times announces PEN World Voices Festival “honoring writers who have shown courage in their lives and work”
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Christian Science Monitor names IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN among the 10 Best Books of 2012 – Fiction
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Kirkus Reviews selects IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN among Best Fiction of 2012
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Christian Science Monitor features IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN in its “3 Outstanding 2012 Novels” selection
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IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
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“The Healing Power of Stories”
Author interview with NPR’s Lynn Neary featured on “This Week’s 5 Must-Read Stories” from NPR Books
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IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN on four new Best Books of 2012 lists
Columbus Dispatch, Travel Insights, About.com, and Time Out New York
IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN nominated for Best Fiction in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2012
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IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN on the National Indie Bestseller list
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IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN on the New York Times Bestseller list in its first week of publication
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