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Library Blog

Local Author Spotlight: Vichet Chum 

Local Author Spotlight
Vichet Chum 

Please describe your writing routine. Is there a time of day or place that is most productive for you?
I find that as the day progresses, I’m less able to stay focused, so I try my very best to write earlier than later. There’s something very energetic and encouraging about waking up, getting my cup of coffee and sitting down to write at my desk. It doesn’t always feel that idyllic, but I offer myself a start every day. And course, if I feel stuck in a moment or a loop, I step away. I have to. Often, the very best thoughts or the way out come when I’m ruminating rather than staring at a screen. 

Is there anything in Lowell or in the surrounding area that has inspired your work? Such a place to take nice walks or a piece of artwork?
Whenever I’m writing in Lowell, I love to perch in a corner at Coffee and Cotton. The coffee is great and the vibe is right. And honestly, everything inspires me in Lowell. I love walking over to Cambodia Town and perusing the businesses and being among my people. I love wandering around Western Avenue Studios and soaking up all the artistry. I love writing from the rehearsal studios at Merrimack Repertory Theatre and dreaming on what I can create for their stage. 

What do you believe are the most important elements of writing? How do you incorporate it into your own work?
There are plenty of stories writing on the same subjects, using the same forms, but I deeply believe every human/writer is unique in their own truth. It’s our jobs as creators to bring that to the surface and do so unapologetically. In my work, whenever I encounter that feeling that something is trite or done before, I offer myself the challenge to find my most honest/dynamic/full perspective on a subject. I push myself to go further in how I feel about something and in how I want that to be communicated… so that even if it’s been shared before, I’m convicted in knowing that I stand at the center of my story. 

What advice would you give to a young writer and/or a writer starting their first creative work?
You’re marvelous. You have impulses. Everything is wholly imperfect. How glorious. So write on. 

What were your favorite books when you were a child?
The Arthur Books, D’Aulaires’ Book Of Greek Myths, Brave New World, The Joy Luck Club

Do you have any reading recommendations?
Stay True, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ma and Me

Vichet Chum (He/Him) is an award-winning playwright, theater maker, actor, writer, Queer Cambodian Sagittarius, originally from Dallas, Texas and now living in New York City. His plays have been workshopped at Steppenwolf Theatre, Ars Nova, Page 73 Productions, Cleveland Play House, the Magic Theater, the Alley Theatre, the UCROSS Foundation, Fault Line Theatre, Crowded Outlet, Second Generation Productions, Weston Playhouse, Cleveland Public Theatre, All For One Theater, Amios, Florida State University, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, South Carolina New Play Festival and the New Harmony Project. He received the 2018 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting with New Dramatists, the 2021 Laurents/Hatcher Award and a 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award for the world premiere of his play Bald Sisters which premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2022 and a special state citation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives for his play KNYUM at Merrimack Repertory Theatre in 2018.

He currently serves as a curator for Space on Ryder Farm, as a board member for the New Harmony Project, and as a steering committee member for the Obie Award and Tony Award-winning organization, AAPAC (The Asian American Performers Action Coalition). Notable writers’ groups include: the Resident Working Farm Group at Space on Ryder Farm, the Interstate 73 Writer’s Group at Page 73 and the Ars Nova Play Group. He is currently working on commissions for Audible, Steppenwolf Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Seattle Children’s Theatre and Merrimack Repertory Theatre. He is a proud graduate of the University of Evansville (BFA) and Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company (MFA). Vichet’s debut YA novel “Kween”, set in Lowell, released October 3rd, 2023 with Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 

Learn more about Vichet Chum’s work on his website. Follow him on Instagram, Twitter, Threads @vichetchum