Alice Pung (born 1981) is an Australian writer, editor and lawyer. Her books include the memoirs ''Unpolished Gem'' (2006), ''Her Father's Daughter'' (2011) and the novel ''Laurinda'' (2014). Pung is a practising solicitor. She has also worked as an art instructor, independent school teacher at primary and secondary schools, and is Artist in Residence at

Janet Clarke Hall Janet Clarke Hall (JCH) is a residential college of the University of Melbourne in Australia. The college is associated with the Anglican Province of Victoria. Founded in 1886 JCH was the first university college in Australia to admit women ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

Life

Pung was born to ethnic Teochew

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

parents from Cambodia. Fleeing the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, her parents sought asylum in Australia in 1980. Pung was named Alice after the protagonist of ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'', because her father saw Australia as a wonderland. She was born in the suburb of Footscray in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and grew up in Braybrook. Pung attended five Melbourne schools, including the Catholic junior girls school Christ the King College in Braybrook (now the junior girls campus of Caroline Chisholm Catholic College),

Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (abbreviated as PEGS) is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Comprehensive School#Australia, comprehensive Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school ...

, and

Mac.Robertson Girls' High School The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School (also known simply as Mac.Rob or MGHS) is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school, located in Albert Park, Victoria, Australia. Entry for Mac.Rob, which is operated by th ...

. Pung studied law at the

and works as a legal analyst.

Writing career

Pung's first book, ''Unpolished Gem'', won the 2007 Newcomer of the Year Award in the Australian Book Industry Awards. Her follow-up memoir, ''Her Father's Daughter'', was published in 2011. Her first book for young adults, ''Laurinda'', was published in 2014. It was adapted for an American audience in 2016, and a collection of high school students' stories inspired by the novel was published in 2016. Pung has also written the ''Marly'' books for the ''Our Australian Girl'' children's series. Pung attended the

International Writing Program The International Writing Program (IWP) is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the I ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

as a resident in 2009. She is a regular writer for

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

on topics such as race discrimination, class, cultural stereotypes, and experiences of living in Melbourne, Victoria. In November 2020, the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

announced that it will adapt Pung's novel, ''Laurinda'', for the stage.

Awards and recognition

In the

2022 Australia Day Honours The 2022 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2022 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australia ...

Pung was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

for service to literature.

''Unpolished Gem''

* Winner of the Australian Newcomer of the Year award in the 2007 Australian Book Industry Awards * Shortlisted in the Australian Biography of the Year and Australian Book of the Year in the 2007 Australian Book Industry Awards * Shortlisted in the 2007 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards * Shortlisted in the 2007 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards * Shortlisted in the 2007 ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' Book of the Year Awards * Shortlisted for the 2006 Colin Roderick Award * Shortlisted for the 2007 The Westfield/Waverley Library Award for Literature

''Her Father's Daughter''

* Winner of the Non-Fiction Prize in the 2011 Western Australian Book Awards * Shortlisted in the 2012 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards *Shortlisted in the 2012 NSW Premier's Literary Awards *Shortlisted in the 2012 Queensland Literary Awards

''Laurinda''

* 2016 Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature (NSW Premier's Literary Awards)

''One Hundred Days''

* Shortlisted in the 2022

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the Will (law), will of Miles Franklin ...

* Shortlisted for the 2022

Voss Literary Prize The Voss Literary Prize is an annual award named in honour of historian Vivian Robert de Vaux Voss (1930–1963). It is awarded to the best novel published in the previous year and is managed and judged by the Australian University Heads of Engl ...

''Millie Mak the Maker''

* Shortlisted for the 2024

Prime Minister's Literary Award The Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards (PMLA) were announced at the end of 2007 by the incoming First Rudd ministry following the 2007 Australian federal election, 2007 election. They are administered by the Minister for the Arts (Aust ...

for Children's Literature

Bibliography

Books

*''Unpolished Gem.'' (Black Inc., 2006) *'' Growing Up Asian in Australia'' (Black Inc., 2008) (editor) * * ''Laurinda'' (Penguin Australia, 2014) (published as ''Lucy and Linh'' in the United States, 2016) *''Our Australian Girl: Meet Marly: Our Australian Girl,'' illustrated by Lucia Masciullo (Puffin, 2015) *''Our Australian Girl: Marly's Business,'' illustrated by Lucia Masciullo (Puffin, 2015) *''Our Australian Girl: Marly and the Goat,'' illustrated by Lucia Masciullo (Puffin, 2015) *''Our Australian Girl: Marly Walks on the Moon,'' illustrated by Lucia Masciullo (Puffin, 2016) *''My First Lesson: Stories Inspired by Laurinda'' (2016) *''John Marsden: Writers on Writers'' (2017) *''Close to Home'' (Black Inc., 2018) *''One Hundred Days'' (Black Inc., 2021) *''Millie Mak the Maker'', illustrated by Sher Rill Ng (HarperCollins, 2023)

Articles

"A sacrifice shouldered, a loyalty pledged beyond words"
30 September 2007 in ''

''
"Shunned in a strange land, we should offer them more"
17 August 2008 in ''

''
"It's time to embrace the 'F' word"
28 October 2008 in ''

''
"Living with Racism in Australia"
7 December 2016 in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Critical studies and reviews of Pung's work

''Her Father's Daughter'' (2011) * * Brewster, Anne (2017) Remembering Violence in Alice Pung's Her Father's Daughter: The Postmemoir and Diasporisation, Life Writing, 14:3, 313–325, ''Growing Up Asian in Australia'' (editor, 2008) * Graham, Pamela (2013) Alice Pung's Growing up Asian in Australia: The Cultural Work of Anthologized Asian-Australian Narratives of Childhood, Prose Studies, 35:1, 67–83, ''Unpolished Gem'' (2006) * Ommundsen, Wenche (2010) Writing as Cultural Negotiation: Suneeta Peres da Costa and Alice Pung. In: Collett A., D’Arcens L. (eds) The Unsociable Sociability of Women's Lifewriting. Palgrave Macmillan, London. * D'Arcangelo, Adele. (2014) Unpolished Gem/Gemma impura the Journey from Australia to Italy of Alice Pung's Bestselling Novel. Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, .l. v. 14, n. 1, June. ISSN 1833-6027. Available at: https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/JASAL/article/view/9877.

References

External links

* *
Alice Pung
''Conversations'' with

Richard Fidler Richard Fidler is an Australian radio presenter and writer. He hosts an hour-long interview program, '' Conversations with Richard Fidler'' on ABC's Radio National, and was a member of the Australian comedy group the Doug Anthony All Stars. '' ...

(5 November 2014)
Tips on writing videoAlice Pung talks about her works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pung, Alice 1981 births Living people Australian memoirists Australian women novelists Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian people of Chinese descent International Writing Program alumni Australian women memoirists Writers from Melbourne People educated at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School People from Braybrook, Victoria People educated at Mac.Robertson Girls' High School 21st-century Australian women lawyers 21st-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian writers 21st-century Australian lawyers