Steph Cha is a
Korean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian American ...
novelist and fiction writer, who has released three novels in the
crime fiction
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...
genre about her detective protagonist Juniper Song, ''Follow Her Home'' (2013), ''Beware Beware'' (2014) and ''Dead Soon Enough'' (2015). Her most recent book is the stand-alone crime fiction novel, ''Your House Will Pay'' (2019), which won the LA Times Book Award.
Background
Cha was born in
Van Nuys, California
Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
History
In 1909 ...
in 1986. She subsequently grew up in
Encino, California
Encino ( Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.
History
In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north through Sepulved ...
with her mother, father and two younger brothers. She attended Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City. Cha graduated from
Stanford University, where she studied English and East Asian Studies, and also completed a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...
degree from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...
.
Work
Novels
In 2013, Cha published her first Juniper Song mystery, ''Follow Her Home'' (2013) with
Minotaur Books
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...
, an imprint of
St. Martin's Press and
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publ ...
. The book has received positive reviews from the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'', ''
Kirkus Reviews'', ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'', ''
Library Journal'', ''
Hyphen Magazine
''Hyphen'' is an American print and online magazine, founded in 2002 by a group of San Francisco Bay Area journalists, activists, and artists including Melissa Hung, a former reporter for the '' Houston Press'' and '' East Bay Express''; Claire ...
'', ''
KoreAm Journal'', and other publications. The sequel ''Beware Beware'' (2014) was published the following year in 2014, also by Minotaur Books. The third novel in the series, ''Dead Soon Enough'' was published by Minotaur Books in 2015.
Other Writing
Cha also has published freelance book reviews and food writing for the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' (serving as a restaurant scout and a protégé of sorts for LA Times' Pulitzer-Prize winning food critic
Jonathan Gold
Jonathan Gold (July 28, 1960 – July 21, 2018) was an American food critic and music critic. He was for many years the chief food critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' and also wrote for ''LA Weekly'' and ''Gourmet'', in addition to serving as a ...
),
[Sabra Embury, THE RUMPUS INTERVIEW WITH STEPH CHA, The Rumpus, January 2, 2015]
Therumpus.net
/ref> humor pieces for ''Trop Magazine'' and a short story entitled "Treasures in Heaven" in the Winter 2013 Fiction Issue of the ''Los Angeles Review of Books
The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012 ...
''.[Steph Cha, Other Writing]
Bystepcha.wordpress.com
/ref>
Cha has also written more than 2,400 reviews on Yelp
Yelp Inc. is an American company that develops the Yelp.com website and the Yelp mobile app, which publish crowd-sourced reviews about businesses. It also operates Yelp Guest Manager, a table reservation service. It is headquartered in San F ...
, according to a ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' interview,[Ivy Pochoda, Steph Cha talks about the L.A. immigrant noir of 'Dead Soon Enough', August 11, 2015]
Los Angeles Times
/ref>[ and has held the "Elite" reviewer title for more than six years in a row, according to an interview with '']The Rumpus
''The Rumpus'' is an online literary magazine launched on January 20, 2009. The site features interviews, book reviews, essays, comics, and critiques of creative culture as well as original fiction and poetry. The site runs two subscription-base ...
''.
Bibliography
Novels
Juniper Song mysteries
*
*
*
Other novels
*
Short Stories
*''Treasures in Heaven'' (Los Angeles Review of Books
The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012 ...
, Winter 2013)
Awards
References
External links
Steph Cha's Official SiteSteph Cha Interview in The RumpusMacMillan Author Page for Steph Cha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cha, Steph
Stanford University alumni
Yale Law School alumni
21st-century American novelists
American writers of Korean descent
Living people
1986 births
American novelists of Asian descent
21st-century American women writers