Khmer Writers' Association

The Khmer Writers' Association (KWA) was established in 1954/1956 and re-established in 1993 as a non-governmental organisation that encourages and promotes writing while offering training programs and competitions.

The authors try to promote a new direction to literature, introducing new themes, such as the abandonment of morality incompatible with modern life; developing new genres, such as theatre nouveau; and providing translations, such as The Arabian Nights, as part of a "didactic and diverse" genre. The establishment of the KWA helped complete the "institutionalisation of Khmer literature" as, through the 1960s, it became the vehicle for writing and publishing textbooks on Khmer literature and literary criticism. In the 2000s, the organisation's focus has shifted; providing training programmes for writing poetry and film screenplays.