For my complete CV (last updated January 30, 2024), click here. 

Books

1. Until Nirvana’s Time: Buddhist Songs from Cambodia (Shambhala Publications, December 2022). xii + 337 pp.

Edited collections

1. Out of the Shadows of Angkor: Cambodian Poetry, Prose, and Performance through the Ages, co-guest edited with Sharon May, Christophe Macquet, Phina So, and Rinith Taing. Series editor: Frank Stewart. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1(Winter 2021–Summer 2022)/University of Hawai'i Press, September 2022. xxxii + 352 pp.

2. “Symposium: New Roads in Theravada Studies," co-edited with Alexandra Kaloyanides. Special section of five essays for the Journal of Global Buddhism 22:1, 191–234. [PDF]

Academic journal articles and book chapters

1. “Buddhism in Central and Southern Thailand: 14–19th Centuries.” Forthcoming in J. Silk et al., eds., Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. IV (Leiden: Brill).

2. “Buddhism in Cambodia: 14–19th Centuries.” Forthcoming in J. Silk et al., eds., Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. IV (Leiden: Brill).

3. "Material Evidence for Ritual Chant in Early Modern Siam: Leporello Manuscripts as Affordances for Deathbed Rites." Forthcoming in Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies.

4. Yu-Yu Cheng and Trent Walker, "A Sino‒Thai Blue-and-White Porcelain at UMMA," Journal of the Siam Society 112:1 (2024), 205–216. [online] [PDF]

5. "Living Phonologies: Khmer Pronunciations of Pali at the Nexus of Writing and Orality." Numen 74:2–3 (2024), 194–226. [online] [PDF]

6. “Epiphytic Literatures: A Botanical Metaphor for Indic-Vernacular Bitexts in Southeast Asia.” In Vicente L. Rafael and Phrae Chittiphalangsri, eds., Of Peninsula and Archipelago: The Landscape of Translation in Southeast Asia (London: Routledge, 2023), 55– 77. [online]

7. “Khmer Nuns and Filial Debts: Buddhist Intersections in Contemporary Cambodia.” Special issue on Gender Asymmetry and Nuns’ Agency in Asian Buddhist Traditions, edited by Nicola Schneider. Religions 13(10): 897 (2022), 1–14. [online] [PDF]

8. “Liquid Language: The Art of Bitextual Sermons in Middle Cambodia.” Journal of Indian Philosophy 50:4, 703–725. [online] [PDF]

9. “Bilingualism: Theravāda Bitexts across South and Southeast Asia.” In Ashley Thompson and Stephen Berkwitz, eds., The Routledge Handbook  of Theravada Buddhism (London: Routledge, 2022), 271–284. [online] [PDF]

10. “Carved Chants and Sermons on Stone: Epigraphic Evidence for Buddhist Literature in Middle Cambodia.” Udaya, Journal of Khmer Studies 15 (2020 [2021]), 57–93. [PDF]

11. “Theravada Literature After ‘Roads Taken and Not Taken’: Reflections on Recent Textual Studies.” Journal of Global Buddhism 22:1 (2021), 199–209. [PDF]

12. Alexandra Kaloyanides and Trent Walker, “Introduction: New Roads in Theravada Studies.” Journal of Global Buddhism 22:1 (2021). 191–198. [PDF]

13. “Indic-Vernacular Bitexts from Thailand: Bilingual Modes of Philology, Exegetics, Homiletics, and Poetry, 1450–1850.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 140.3 (Jul.–Sep. 2020), 675–699. [PDF]

14. “A Chant Has Nine Lives: The Circulation of Theravada Liturgies in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.” Journal of Vietnamese Studies 15.3 (Summer 2020), 36–78. [PDF] [supplemental audio files]

15. “Siamese Manuscripts in Cambodian Collections,” in Olivier de Bernon et al (ed.), Inventaire provisoire des manuscrits du Cambodge, deuxième partie (Paris: École française d'Extrême-Orient, 2018), xcv–cvi (95–106). [PDF]

16. “Echoes of a Sanskrit Past: Liturgical Curricula and the Pali Uṇhissavijaya in Cambodia,” in Claudio Cicuzza (ed.), Katā me rakkhā, katā me parittā: Protecting the protective texts and manuscripts, Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka Vol. 14 (Bangkok and Lumbini, Lumbini International Research Institute and Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation, 2018), 55–134. [PDF]

17. “Saṃvega and Pasāda: Dharma Songs in Contemporary Cambodia.”  Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 41 (2018), 271–325. [PDF]

18. Carolyn Parkinson, Trent Walker, Sarah Memmi, and Thalia Wheatley. “Emotions are Understood from Biological Motion across Remote Cultures.” Emotion 17:3 (Apr 2017), 459–477. [PDF]

19. “Cognition’s Embrace: Yogācāra Themes in the Writings of Thích Nhất Hạnh.” Berkeley Student Journal of Asian Studies 6 (Spring 2016), 109–137. [PDF]

20. “How Sophea Lost Her Sight.” Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, special issue edited by Jonathan H.X. Lee on “Genocide, Healing, Justice, and Peace: The Cambodian Experience,” 23:4 (2011), 522–529. [PDF] [audio]

Public scholarship articles

1. "Music and Healing in Cambodia," Insight LA (online, July 2022): https://insightla.org/music-and-healing-in-cambodia/

2. “Cambodian Literature: An Introduction.” Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022): xxv–xxxii [15–22]. [PDF]

3. "Dharma Songs to Stir and Settle: The Melodies and Meaning of the Cambodia’s Buddhist Music." Tricycle (Spring 2022). https://tricycle.org/magazine/cambodia-buddhist-music/ (for a related podcast interview, see https://tricycle.org/podcast/trent-walker/)

4. Chenxing Han and Trent Walker. “The Many Faces of Cultural Appropriation.” Buddhadharma (Winter 2021), 86–100. [PDF] Republished online through Lion's Roar (December 17, 2021): https://www.lionsroar.com/the-many-faces-of-cultural-appropriation/ 

5. "Grieving for the Buddha: Three Cambodian Songs.” Insight Journal 47 (Fall 2021), 154–164. [link] [PDF]

Reviews

1. Review of Thomas Nathan Patton, The Buddha’s Wizards: Magic, Protection, and Healing in Burmese Buddhism (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018), Reading Religion (Nov 2019): http://readingreligion.org/books/buddhas-wizards. [PDF] 

2. Booknote on Erik W. Davis, Deathpower: Buddhism’s Ritual Imagination in Cambodia (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016), Religious Studies Review 42:3 (September 2016), 228–229. [PDF]

3. Review of Ian Harris, Buddhism in a Dark Age: Cambodian Monks under Pol Pot (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2013), International Journal of Asian Studies 13:1 (January 2016), 108–110. [PDF]

PhD Dissertation

“Unfolding Buddhism: Communal Scripts, Localized Translations, and the Work of the Dying in Cambodian Chanted Leporellos.” Chair: Alexander von Rospatt. Committee members: Penny Edwards, Peter Jenks, and Olivier de Bernon. 1651 pp. [PDF] [online]

Dissertation website: www.trentwalker.org/unfolding-buddhism

BA Thesis

“Quaking and Clarity: Saṃvega and Pasāda in Cambodian Dharma Songs.” Thesis advisor: Paul Harrison. Second Reader: Linda Hess. 153 pp. [PDF]

Published Translations:

1. [Thai to English] Santi Pakdeekham ศานติ ภักดีคำ, “Preface” คำนำ and “Introduction” บทนำ, in Santi Pakdeekham, รัตนพิมพวงศ์ พระพรหมราชปัญญา รจนา คาถาตำนานพระแก้วมรกต ภาษาบาลี พระราชนิพนธ์ รัชกาลที่ ๔ และสิหิงคนิทาน พระโพธิรังสี รจนา Ratanabimbavaṃsa by Brahmarājapaññā, Gāthā Tāṃnān Phra Kaew Morakot by King Rāmā IV, and Sihiṅganidāna by Bodhiraṅsī, Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka Vol. 18 (Bangkok and Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Institute and Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation, 2022).

2. [Old and Middle Khmer to English] “Oaths and Ordeals in Classical Cambodian Law, 1011–1891." Justice in Translation 7 (October 2022, Justice in Southeast Asia Lab, University of Wisconsin, Madison), 1–18. [link]

3. [Northern Khmer to English, with Direk Hongthong] Songsaeng Rungrueangchai ส่องแสง รุ่งเรืองชัย, “The Big Tusker” ตำแร็ยพลุทม. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 296–298. [PDF]

4. [Khmer to English] Kong Nay គង់ ណៃ,  “Lullaby: An Elephant Rocks its Trunk” ដំរីយោលដៃ. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 299–300. [PDF]

5. [Khmer to English] Kong Bunchhoeun គង់ ប៊ុនឈឿន, “The Shade of the Tenth Coconut Tree” ម្លប់ដូងទីដប់. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 278–279. [PDF]

6. [Khmer to English] Sinn Sisamouth ស៊ីន សីសាមុត, “Champa of Battambang” ចំប៉ាបាត់ដំបង. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 277. [PDF]

7. [Khmer to English] Kong Bunchhoeun គង់ ប៊ុនឈឿន, “The Race of the Quick” ពូជអ្នកឆាប់. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 96–98. [PDF]

8. [Khmer to English] Braḥ Padumatther Som ព្រះបទុមត្ថេរ សោម, “Tum Teav (excerpt)” ទុំទាវ. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 76–79. [PDF]

9. [Khmer to English] Ukñā Suttantaprījā Ind ឧកញ៉ាសុត្តន្តប្រីជា ឥន្ទ, “Journey to Angkor Wat (excerpt)” និរាសនគរវត្ត. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 67–75. [PDF]

10. [Khmer to English] Anak Braḥ Bhiramy Bhāsā Ū, alias Krom Ngoy អ្នកព្រះភិរម្យភាសាអ៊ូ ហៅ ក្រមង៉ុយ, “A Garland of New Advice (excerpt)” ច្បាប់ល្បើកថ្មី. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 60–62. [PDF]

11. [Khmer to English] Ang Duong អង្គឌួង, “Kaki (excerpt)” កាកី . Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 51–59. [PDF]

12. [Khmer to English] Mai ម៉ៃ, “Code for Girls” ច្បាប់ស្រី. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 44–50. [PDF]

13. [Khmer to English] “Thunder and the Crabs” ល្បើកក្តាមផ្គរ. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 40–43. [PDF]

14. [Khmer to English] From Until Nirvana’s Time (The Thirty-Three Consonants អក្ខរៈ ៣៣, This Life is Short ព្រះត្រៃលក្ខណ៍, Hymn to the Buddha’s Feet សរសើរព្រះបាទ). Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 32–39. [PDF]

15. [Khmer to English] “The Point of the Cape” ផុតចុងជ្រោយ . Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 31. [PDF]

16. [Khmer to English] “A Selection of Wedding Songs” (Ancestral Offerings និមន្តបញ្ចុះក្រយា, In Bloom សំពោង, Windswept Pond ត្រពាំងពាយ, Rowing the Boat អុំទូក). Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 28–30. [PDF]

17. [Middle Khmer to English] “Goddesses of the Land” ប្រណិធាន. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 24–27. [PDF]

18. [Pali and Middle Khmer to English] “Victory in the Eight Directions” ជ័យទិស. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 22–23. [PDF]

19. [Middle Khmer to English] Braḥ Rājasambhār ព្រះរាជសម្ភារ, “My Soul of Gold” ព្រលឹងមាស. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 16–21. [PDF]

20. [Middle Khmer to English] Braḥ Sugandh ព្រះសុគន្ធ, “Code of Old Sayings” ច្បាប់ពាក្យចាស់. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 13–15. [PDF]

21. [Middle Khmer to English] “Reamker (Cambodian Ramayana, excerpt) រាមកេរ្តិ៍. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 9–12. [PDF]

22. [Old Khmer, as preserved in Thai manuscripts, to English] Khun Thepkrawi of Sukhothai ขุนเทพกระวี เมืองสุโขทัย, “Hymn for the Elephants” ស្លុតីសង្វោយ. Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 6–8. [PDF]

23. [Sanskrit and Old Khmer to English] “Hymn to the Tree of Awakening.” Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 4–5. [PDF]

24. [Sanskrit to English] Indradevī, “In Praise of Sister Queens (K. 485, excerpt).” Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 2–3. [PDF]

25. [Old Khmer to English], “Warning to Thieves (K. 426).” Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing 33:2–34:1 (Winter 2021–Summer 2022), 1. [PDF]

26. [Thai to English] Santi Pakdeekham ศานติ ภักดีคำ, “Introduction” บทนำ, in Santi Pakdeekham, คัมภีร์พระไตรปิฎกจากจิตรกรรมฝาผนังพระอุโบสถวัดทองนพคุณ Painted Catalogue of Pāli Literature, Uposatha Hall of Wat Thong Nopphakhun, Bangkok. Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka Vol. 17 (Bangkok and Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Institute and Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation, 2021), xxi– xxvi [11–16].  [PDF]

27. [Khmer to English] Anonymous, “This Heap Called a Body” រូបក្ខន្ធោ. The Margins, Transpacific Literary Project, Asian American Writers' Workshop (March 2021, "A Notebook of Lullabies"). [link]

28. [Thai to English] Santi Pakdeekham ศานติ ภักดีคำ,  “Introduction” บทนำ, in Santi Pakdeekham, ed. Saṅgītiyavaṅsa, Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka Vol. 16 (Bangkok and Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Institute and Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation, 2020), xxv–xlvii [25–47]. [PDF]

29. [Khmer to English], “Treasures from Cambodia: Code of Old Sayings, a Khmer Didactic Poem.” Buddhist Digital Resource Center  (30 September 2020). [link] [PDF]

30. [Khmer to English], “Rāmakerti I (Verses 1–75)” in Arjay Stevens, REAMKER – The Cambodian Ramayana – Gods, Demons, and Heroes (Phnom Penh: Institut Bouddhique and edition photoArt, 2019), 140–141. [PDF]

31. [Thai to English] Thatri ธาตรี and Uea Suntharasanan เอื้อ สุนทรสนาน, “Jasmine Scent” กลิ่นแก้ว, in memorial website for Kannikar Elbow, University of Wisconsin-Madison, edited by Anthony Lovenheim Irwin (2018). [link] [pdf] [cover of original song]

32. [Thai to English] Santi Pakdeekham ศานติ ภักดีคำ, “Introduction” บทนำ, in Santi Pakdeekham ศานติ ภักดีค, Tāṃrā Traipiṭaka ตำราไตรปิฎก Handbook of the Tripiṭaka. Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka Vol. 13 (Bangkok and Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Institute and Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation, 2017). [PDF]

33. [Sanskrit to English] Queen Indradevi, The Great Stele of Phimeanakas (excerpt). Words Without Borders (November 2015, “Cambodia: Angkor to Year Zero and Beyond”). [link]

34. [Khmer to English] Ukñā Suttantaprījā Ind ឧកញ៉ាសុត្តន្តប្រីជា ឥន្ទ, Journey to Angkor Wat និរាសនគរវត្ត (excerpt). Words Without Borders (November 2015, “Cambodia: Angkor to Year Zero and Beyond”). [link]

35. [Khmer to English] Kong Bunchhoeun គង់ ប៊ុនឈឿន, “The Shade of the Tenth Coconut Tree” ម្លប់ដូងទីដប់. Words Without Borders (November 2015, “Cambodia: Angkor to Year Zero and Beyond”). [link]

Exhibit Catalogs

1. Framing the Sacred: Cambodian Buddhist Painting. Institute of East Asian Studies: University of California, Berkeley, 2013. 56 pp. [PDF]

2. Co-curator (with Janet Carter, Alexander von Rospatt, Virginia Shih, and Bruce Williams), Dharmakośavivaraṇa 法藏開: Revealing the Treasures of Buddhist Studies at Berkeley. Doe Library, Bernice Layne Brown Gallery, University of California, Berkeley (Mar–Aug 2015). [link] 

Digital Resources

1. Stirring and Stilling: A Liturgy of Cambodian Dharma Songs សំវេគ និង បសាទ ៖ ពិធីស្មូត្រធម៌បទខ្មែរ, 2011. http://www.stirringandstilling.org. A multimedia online book that includes an introductory essay, translations of and commentaries on 16 Khmer and Pali songs, and 34 audio recordings. [link] [PDF] [audio]

Albums/Liner Notes

1. [Librettist] Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia បង្សុកូល. New York: Entertain Impact/Cambodian Living Arts, 2022. https://www.bangsokolalbum.com/

2. [Producer; bilingual liner notes and song translations] Our First Teachers: Dharma Songs about Filial Debts បុព្វាចារ្យយើង ៖ កម្រងធម៌បទស្មូត្រស្ដីអំពីគុណមាតាបិតា. Phnom Penh: Cambodian Living Arts, 2013. [liner notes]

3. [Producer; bilingual liner notes and song translations] Moments in the Buddha’s Life: Cambodian Dharma Songs performed by Prum Ut ដំណាលកាលអង្គ ៖ កម្រងធម៌បទនិទានរឿងពុទ្ធប្បវត្តិ. Phnom Penh: Cambodian Living Arts, 2013. [liner notes]

4. [Producer; bilingual liner notes] Offerings to the Journey: Traditional Khmer Songs for Funerals ដង្វាយថ្វាយដំណើរ ៖ កម្រងធម៌បទភ្លេងគងស្គរ ប្រគំសម្រាប់បុណ្យសព. Phnom Penh: Cambodian Living Arts, 2013. [liner notes]

5. [Bilingual liner notes] Offerings to the Masters: Traditional Khmer Songs for Spirit Possessions ដង្វាយថ្វាយព្រះគ្រូ ៖ កម្រងធម៌បទភ្លេងអារក្ស. Phnom Penh: Cambodian Living Arts, 2013. [liner notes]

6. [Bilingual liner notes and song translations] Offerings to the Ancestors: Traditional Khmer Songs for Weddings ដង្វាយថ្វាយមេបា ៖ កម្រងធម៌បទភ្លេងការបុរាណ. Phnom Penh: Cambodian Living Arts, 2013. [liner notes]

7. [Liner notes and song translations] Sarikakeo: Love Songs and Other Favorites from Cambodia. Phnom Penh: Cambodian Living Arts, 2008. [liner notes]

Librettos

1. Librettist (in Pali and Khmer, with English and French translation), Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia, in collaboration with Him Sophy (composer) and Rithy Panh (director, designer, filmmaker). World premiere at Melbourne Festival 2017, Arts Centre Melbourne (Oct 13–14, 2017). US premiere in New York at the Next Wave Festival 2017, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Howard Gilman Opera House (Dec 15–16, 2017). Additional performances in Boston, MA at ArtsEmerson (Dec 19–20, 2017); Paris, France, Philharmonie de Paris (May 16, 2018); and Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Nov 21–23, 2019). [libretto] [website: http://bangsokol.cambodianlivingarts.org/ ]