Hi everyone! My name is Layhannara Tep and I was born and raised in Long Beach, California. I am the daughter of Cambodian refugees, an experience that continues to shape my writing. I attended UCLA as an undergraduate and pursued a double major in Asian American Studies and English. After graduation, I pursued my interest in educational equity and worked in student retention at the UCLA Community Programs Office. During my years in Student Affairs, I served as the SEA CLEAR Project Coordinator (UCLA’s Southeast Asian retention project), the Writing Success Program Manager, and as the Retention Advisor. I am currently a full-time graduate student in Asian American Studies at UCLA, where I am working on a creative capstone that merges my interests in the Cambodian diaspora and creative writing. My capstone will culminate in a collection of short stories that centers the Cambodian diasporic experience.
