Mitchell Keo is a second generation Khmer American born and raised in Houston, Texas. He grew up in a Mexican neighbourhood, and never felt a connection to a community growing up.
He started exploring his Asian American identity while studying biology at University of Texas at Austin. Today, Mitchell works as a software engineer and credits his love for books and Sokha, owner of Mam's Bookstore, for helping him explore his cultural identity and cultivate his very own community through his book club, Seattle Chinatown Book Club.
Connect with Mitchell on Instagram or LinkedIn.
Here are some of Mitchell's favourite books by Asian American authors with his comments:
1) "Afterparties" by Anthony Veasna So. Incredible collection of Khmer-American based fiction short stories that touched so many fond memories of my own childhood as a Khmer-American.
2) "The Sympathizer" by Viet Thanh Nguyen. A thriller spy novel set after the Vietnam War, this book has very thoughtful themes of cultural identity, nationality, and what it means to find yourself displaced as an Asian immigrant from a war torn country.
3) "Stay True" by Hua Hsu. A memoir written about a Taiwanese American man and his experience growing up in Berkeley, CA. This book has themes of grief and the ways we process grief.
4) "Minor Feelings" by Cathy Park Hong. This book is a collage of personal essays that confronts Asian American identity and the politics that surround it.
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