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Anthony Veasna So (February 20, 1992 – December 8, 2020) was an American writer known for short stories, which were described by The New York Times as "crackling, kinetic and darkly comedic" and often drew from his upbringing as a child of Cambodian immigrants.[1][2] So died from an accidental[3] drug overdose in 2020, and his debut book, a short story collection entitled Afterparties, was published in 2021.[4]

Anthony Veasna So
Born	(1992-02-20)February 20, 1992 Stockton, California, U.S.
Died	December 8, 2020(2020-12-08) (aged 28) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Alma mater	Stanford University (BA) Syracuse University (MFA)
Period	2018–2020
Notable works	Afterparties

Biography

So was born in Stockton, California, to Khmer parents who had fled Cambodia during the Cambodian genocide under the Khmer Rouge.[1][4] He graduated from Stanford University in 2014[5] with bachelor's degrees in Art and English.[1][2] He was a Kundiman Fellow and a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. In December 2020, he received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Syracuse University, where he worked with Jonathan Dee and Dana Spiotta.[6] He taught at Colgate University, Syracuse University and the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants in Oakland, California.[7] Afterparties had been the subject of a bidding war between publishers; the winning publisher, Ecco, had offered him a six-figure sum for two books. His editor at Ecco said, "His writing is blazingly funny but also deeply empathetic. Those traits don’t come together that often."[1] In January 2022 it was announced that Afterparties would be developed for television.[8][9]

A second book by So, tentatively titled Songs on Endless Repeat, which will include segments of an unfinished novel he had worked on as well as nonfiction writing, is set to be published in 2023.[4]

At the time of So's death, he lived in San Francisco with his partner, Alex Torres. He died from a drug overdose at his residence on December 8, 2020, at age 28.[4]

His book Afterparties was the winner of the 2022 Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ literature.[10]

Bibliography

Books

• Afterparties: Stories (August 3, 2021), ISBN 0063049902

Online fiction

• So, Anthony Veasna (February 3, 2020). "Three Women of Chuck's Donuts". The New Yorker.
• So, Anthony Veasna (March 2018). "Superking Son Scores Again". n+1.

References

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