Kosal Khiev

KosalKhiev is a poet, tattoo artist, and a survivor of the U.S. prison system.

Born in a refugee camp after his parents fled the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, Khiev grew up in the US after being granted asylum, and had joined a gang by the age of 13.At 16, Khiev was involved in a shoot-out in which two people were shot and injured. As a result, he was convicted of attempted murder and spent the next 14 years in jail.Because he was not a US citizen, Khiev was deported to Cambodia, a country he had never visited before, on his release from prison.

Khiev discovered poetry while in prison in the US. He has since established himself as a poet in Cambodia, representing his country at the Poetry Parnassus, a festival held as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

Khiev dreams of being able to return to the US and reunite with his family one day, although for now, Khiev is working as an artist-in-residence at Studio Revolt, and running poetry workshops with young people.