C Pam Zhang

Last updated
C Pam Zhang
Born1990 (age 33–34)
Beijing, China
OccupationWriter
Alma mater
Notable works
Website
cpamzhang.com

C Pam Zhang (born 1990) is an American writer. Her debut novel, How Much of These Hills Is Gold , was released by Riverhead Books in 2020 and was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Fiction and long-listed for the 2020 Booker Prize. [1] The same year, Zhang was named a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" Honoree. [2] [3] Her second novel, Land of Milk and Honey, was listed in The New York Times 100 notable books for 2023. [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Zhang was born in Beijing, China, [5] and moved to the United States when she was four years old. While growing up, Zhang moved to ten new homes by the time she was eighteen. [6]

She attended Brown University, and has studied at Cambridge University. [7] Zhang was the 2017 Truman Capote Fellow at the Iowa Writer's Workshop.

How Much of These Hills is Gold (2020)

Zhang's debut novel How Much of These Hills is Gold, published in 2020, follows two recently orphaned children of immigrants on the run, trying not just to survive but to find a home. The novel is set against the twilight of the American gold rush. [8] How Much of These Hills is Gold is inspired by Zhang's childhood of moving homes often. It reckons with the grief she experienced after losing her father when she was twenty-two. [6]

The New York Times said, "C Pam Zhang’s arresting, beautiful first novel is filled with myths of her own making as well as sorrows and joys." [9]

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Zhang's novel is a "a fully immersive epic drama packed with narrative riches and exquisitely crafted prose … . Zhang captures not only the mesmeric beauty and storied history of America's sacred landscape, but also the harsh sacrifices countless people were forced to make in hopes of laying claim to its bounty." [10]

Zhang has been awarded support from Tin House, Bread Loaf, and Aspen Words. [11] In 2020, Zhang was nominated for the Booker Prize. [12]

Selected texts

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References

  1. ↑ "The 2020 Booker Prize longlist announced". The Booker Prizes. July 27, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  2. ↑ "C Pam Zhang". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  3. ↑ "2021 Lambda Literary Award Finalists". Lambda Literary. Archived from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  4. ↑ Staff, The New York Times Books (2023-11-21). "100 Notable Books of 2023". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  5. ↑ "About". C Pam Zhang. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  6. 1 2 de León, Concepción (April 4, 2020). "How a Chinese-American Novelist Wrote Herself Into the Wild West". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ Cumsky-Whitlock, Jake (May 19, 2020). "An Indies Introduce Q&A With C Pam Zhang". American Booksellers Association.
  8. ↑ "How Much of These Hills Is Gold". Penguin Random House. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  9. ↑ Southgate, Martha (April 7, 2020). "A Haunting Debut Novel Brings New Faces to the Myth of the American West". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Burling, Alexis (March 31, 2020). "Review: 'How Much of These Hills Is Gold' is a fierce reimagining of the American West". SF Chronicle.
  11. ↑ "C Pam Zhang". Penguin Random House.
  12. ↑ Marshall, Alex (July 27, 2020). "Hilary Mantel, Kiley Reid, Anne Tyler in Running for Booker Prize". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  13. ↑ Kleeman, Alexandra (2023-09-21). "A Lush Novel at the Nexus of Food, Pleasure, Wealth and Catastrophe". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  14. ↑ "C Pam Zhang on Relishing Pleasure, Observing Billionaires, and Writing a Love Story". Vanity Fair. 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  15. ↑ Bansinath, Bindu (2023-09-19). ""I Don't Like the Feeling of Being Pinned Down"". The Cut. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
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