Catherine Chung | |
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![]() Catherine Chung at the 2013 Texas Book Festival. | |
Born | Evanston, Illinois, U.S. |
Education | University of Chicago Cornell University (MFA) |
Genre | Novel |
Catherine Chung is an American writer whose first novel, Forgotten Country, received an Honorable Mention for the 2013 PEN/Hemingway Award, [1] and was an Indie Next Pick, [2] in addition to being chosen for several best of lists including Booklist's 10 Best Debut Novels of 2012, [3] and the San Francisco Chronicle 's and Bookpage's Best Books of 2012. [4] [5] [6] She received a 2014 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing, [7] and was recognized in 2010 by Granta magazine as one of its "New Voices" of the year. [8] Her second book The Tenth Muse [9] was released to critical acclaim, [10] and was a 2019 Finalist for a National Jewish Book Award. [11] In 2015 Buzzfeed named her one of 32 Essential Asian American Writers. [12]
Chung was born in Evanston, Illinois, [6] and has a brother. [8] She grew up in New York, New Jersey and Michigan. [6]
She graduated with a mathematics degree from the University of Chicago, and worked at the think tank the RAND Corporation before attending Cornell University to receive her MFA. [6]
Chung's critically acclaimed debut novel, Forgotten Country, was published in 2012 by Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Press. [5] Her second novel, The Tenth Muse was published in 2019 by Ecco, a division of Harper Collins. [13] She has also published short stories and essays in The New York Times , [14] The Rumpus , [15] and Granta, [16] and was the recipient of a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Prize in Poetry. [17]
She has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, Civitella Ranieri, and Jentel, and received support for her writing from the Camargo Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the Constance Saltonstall Foundation. [18] She was a Picador Guest Professor at the University of Leipzig, a Director's Visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, [19] and an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Adelphi University. [20] [21] Chung is the recipient of a 2014 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing, and a Granta New Voice. [22]