Y-Dang Troeung was a deeply loved mother, researcher, writer, and Assistant Professor of English at the University of British Columbia. Her first book, Refugee Lifeworlds: The Afterlife of the Cold War in Cambodia, explored the enduring impact of war, genocide and displacement. She co-directed the short film Easter Epic and organized the exhibition Remembering Cambodian Border Camps, 40 Years Later at Phnom Penh's Bophana Center; ; and co-edited a special issue of Canadian Literature on 'Refugee Worldmaking'. She died of pancreatic cancer at the age of forty-two.