The Refugee Story: Beginning, Middle and End

Robert McNally moderated this informative online discussion with authors Sieu Sean Do and Katya Cengel on the topic of refugees, trauma and collective vs. individual truth.

In "Exiled: From the Killing Fields of Cambodia to California and Back," journalist and UC Berkeley Extension writing instructor Katya Cengel follows the stories of four Cambodian American families as they confront criminal deportation 40 years after their resettlement in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s.

Their stories begin with the genocide they survived under the Khmer Rouge, a Marxist power that wiped out 13-30% of the Cambodian population. Sieu Sean Do tells that part of the story in his memoir, "A Cloak of Good Fortune," which chronicles his survival of the killing fields.

Katya and Sieu Sean talk about the different perspectives they present and the benefits and shortcomings of each. They also talk about chronicling trauma and individual and collective truth.