Anchalee Vivatanachai (born 1952), writing under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Anchan, is a Thai writer living in the United States. She was a recipient of the

S.E.A. Write Award The S.E.A. Write Award, or Southeast Asian Writers Award, is an award that is presented annually since 1979 to poets and writers of Southeast Asia. The awards are given to the writers from each of the countries comprised in the Association of S ...

Biography

She was born in

Thonburi __NOTOC__ Thonburi () is an area of modern Bangkok. During the era of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Kingdom of Ayutthaya, its location on the right (west) bank at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River had made it an important garrison town, which is ref ...

and received a BA in Thai language and literature from

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU; ; , ) is a public university, public Autonomous university, autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training ro ...

. After graduating, she went to live in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

with her parents. She met her husband there. She studied gemology at the

Gemological Institute of America The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is a nonprofit institute based in Carlsbad, California. It is dedicated to research and education in the field of gemology and the jewelry arts. Founded in 1931, GIA's mission is to protect buyers and s ...

and worked for a jewelry company in New York City. Anchan published her first story "Mother Dear" which, in 1985, was named the best short story of the year by the Thai

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

Center. Her short story collection ''Anmanī hāēng chīwit '' (Jewels of Life) received the Southeast Asian Write Award in 1990. A collection of poems ''Lāisư̄'' (The Letters) was shortlisted for a Southeast Asian Write Award in 1995.

References

1953 births Living people Thai women short story writers Thai women poets Pseudonymous women writers Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University alumni 20th-century Thai poets 21st-century Thai writers 20th-century Thai women writers 21st-century Thai women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers {{Thailand-writer-stub