Anthony Veasna So
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Syracuse University (MFA)
Anthony Veasna So | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 20, 1992 Stockton, California, U.S. |
| Died | December 8, 2020 (aged 28) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | Stanford University (BA) Syracuse University (MFA) |
| Period | 2018–2020 |
| Notable works | Afterparties |
Anthony Veasna So (February 20, 1992 – December 8, 2020) was an American writer. His short stories 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 was born on February 20, 1992, in Stockton, California, to auto repair shop owner Sienghay So and Ravy So, a retired claims representative for the Social Security Administration. So was a second-generation Cambodian American. After fleeing the Cambodian genocide to Thailand, his parents' families settled in Stockton, where they met.[1][5] His parents lived in what Vulture described as an "upper-middle-class gated enclave in West Stockton". So had a large extended family: birthdays and festivities are collectively celebrated in a large family gathering and many relatives live in close proximity to each other. With consistent good grades, So was described in his childhood as "the quiet one reading in the corner [...] smart but lacked common sense. Clumsy." So had been sickly since childhood, suffering from asthma, chronic ear infections and numerous allergies.[5]
He graduated from Stanford University in 2014[6] 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.[7]
