The Making of a Kween: A Conversation with Vichet Chum

Celebrate Kween, the acclaimed debut YA novel by playwright and author Vichet Chum,

with a special evening at The Understudy. Hosted by The Midwives Artistic Collective,

the event features a lively conversation facilitated by The Midwives founder and artistic

director Emily Ritger, with Vichet Chum, his creative “midwife” Thomas Murray, and

Khemarey “Khem” Khoeun, advocate, organizer, and the first Cambodian American

woman elected to public office in the United States. Together, they’ll explore the book’s

origins, cultural connections, and the collaborative magic behind its creation.

About the Book

Soma Kear’s verses have gone viral. Trouble is, she didn’t exactly think her slam poetry video through. All she knew was that her rhymes were urgent. On fire. An expression of where she was, and that place…was a hot mess.

Following her Ba’s deportation back to Cambodia, everything’s changed. Her Ma is away trying to help Ba adjust to his new life, and her older sister has taken charge with a new authoritarian tone. Meanwhile, Soma’s trending video pushes her to ask if it’s time to level up. With her school’s spoken word contest looming, Soma must decide: Is she brave enough to put herself out there? To publicly reveal her fears of Ba not returning? To admit that things may never be the same?

With every line she spits, Soma searches for a way to make sense of the world around her. The answers are at the mic.

From debut author Vichet Chum comes a celebration of Khmer identity, queerness, and embracing the complicated histories that shape who we are and want to be.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vichet Chum (He/Him) is a New York based writer from Dallas, Texas. His plays have been workshopped/produced at Steppenwolf Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, the Alley Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Ars Nova, Page 73 Productions, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Cleveland Play House, the Magic Theater, the UCROSS Foundation, Fault Line Theatre, Crowded Outlet, Second Generation Productions, Weston Playhouse, Cleveland Public Theatre, South Carolina New Play Festival and the New Harmony Project. He received the 2023 Lucille Bulger Service Award, 2018 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting with New Dramatists, the 2021 Laurents/Hatcher Award, 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 is currently a Roundabout Theatre Company Underground Resident, New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect, Sun Valley Writers’ Conference Fellow, New Harmony Project board member, and Obie Award and Tony Award-winning AAPAC (The Asian American Performers Action Coalition) steering committee member. Past 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, People’s Light, and Seattle Children’s Theatre. Vichet’s debut YA novel Kween was released in 2023l with Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. He is a proud graduate of the University of Evansville (BFA) and Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company (MFA) and is represented by WME and CURATE Management. vichetchum.com

Emily Ritger (She/Her) is a director, playwright, teacher, and arts administrator based in Chicago. As a teacher and director developing new work, she has worked for American Theatre Company, Redmoon, Cleveland Public Theatre, Northlight Theatre, ChiArts, The National High School Institute, Carthage College, and Loyola University. Ritger’s training includes ensemble based work, Viola Spolin Theatre Games, Viewpoints, Puppetry, Contact Improv, experimental writing, and various forms of music. She is the founder of The Midwives, an artistic development company serving makers of different disciplines across the country. Her current projects include: Crud, part docudrama, part fantastical music and shadow puppetry, examining a day her family never talks about. Dear Aliza, a memoir of recorded stories following her seven year journey to having a child. Emily received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, a BS in Theatre and Philosophy from the University of Evansville, and has trained at La MaMa Umbria in Italy and Paul Sills’ Wisconsin Theatre Game Center. emilyritger.com

Thomas Murray (He/Him) is an applied theatre artist, extending the craft he practiced as an actor and a director to audiences beyond the entertainment industry. He currently serves as Chief Community Officer for Equitech Futures, a global fellowship program, where he teaches communication and creativity to emerging STEM innovators. Previously, Thomas was program director for Storycatchers Theatre, where he guided youth in the Illinois juvenile justice system to share their life stories as works of musical theatre. He co-founded Waltzing Mechanics and Strangeloop Theatre, both dearly departed ensembles of the Chicago storefront theatre scene. Thomas is proud to have spent three terms with The Midwives Artistic Collective as an artist and a creative midwife. He holds a B.A. in theatre directing from Ball State University and an M.F.A. in applied theatre and public dialogue from Virginia Tech.

Khemarey “Khem” Khoeun is the first Cambodian American woman elected to public office in the United States. As the daughter of Cambodian refugees and a lifelong advocate for equity, she has spent her career helping others find and elevate their authentic voices—especially those too often silenced. Khem has served as a Skokie Village Trustee, Skokie Park District Commissioner, and as President of the National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial. With a background in social work and immigrant rights organizing, her work is rooted in community, intergenerational healing, and the belief that storytelling is a powerful tool for justice and transformation.

The Midwives Artistic Collective began in 2017 out of artists’ need for support, accountability, and motivation. The first year began as an experiment: seven artists from across the country, making in different disciplines, who were for the most part strangers. The experiment was led by artist Emily Ritger. Ritger, with a background in new play development, was curious if there was another way to support the creation of new work. What if it was nurtured by peers, in community? What if it was supported by artists specifically outside their field? For example, how would a play be affected and changed if it was supported (or midwived) by a musician or visual artist? What if artists signed up rather than applied? And lastly, what if we believed everyone is an artist, everyone is creative! How would that change not only the work being made, but also our cultural valuing of art The mission of The Midwives is to nurture the public creative spirit. We hope to bring forth new work and new voices by seeing the artist in everyone.

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