C Pam Zhang Explained

C Pam Zhang
Birth Place:Beijing, China
Occupation:Writer
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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 longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize; she was named a "5 Under 35" writer by the National Book Foundation subsequent to its release. Her second novel, Land of Milk and Honey, was released in 2023.

Early life and education

Zhang was born in Beijing in 1990[1] [2] 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.[3]

She attended Brown University and studied at Cambridge University.[4] Zhang was the 2017 Truman Capote Fellow at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Career

How Much of These Hills Is Gold

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.[5] 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.

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."[6]

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."[7]

Zhang has been awarded support from Tin House, Bread Loaf, and Aspen Words.[8] In 2020, Zhang was nominated for the Booker Prize.[9] The same year, Zhang was named a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" Honoree.[10] [11]

Land of Milk and Honey

Her second novel, Land of Milk and Honey, was listed in The New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2023.[12] It was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

Awards

Year Work Award Category Result Ref
2020How Much of These Hills Is Gold— [13]
Booklist Best First Novels on Audio — Top 10[14]
California Book Award First Fiction (Gold) [15]
— [16]
Debut Novel [17]
Reading Women Award Fiction [18]
2021American Academy of Arts and Letters Rosenthal Family Foundation Award — [19]
Adult Fiction [20] [21]
Lambda Literary AwardBisexual Fiction[22]
National Book Critics Circle AwardJohn Leonard Prize[23]
PEN/Hemingway Award— [24]
— [25]
2023Land of Milk and HoneyScience Fiction
2024—
Fiction Narrator
Fiction
—
—

Selected texts

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About. live. 2022-01-12. C Pam Zhang. https://web.archive.org/web/20220112024545/https://cpamzhang.com/about . 2022-01-12 .
  2. Bansinath . Bindu . September 19, 2023 . ‘I Don’t Like the Feeling of Being Pinned Down’ . The Cut . October 17, 2024.
  3. News: de León. Concepción. April 4, 2020. How a Chinese-American Novelist Wrote Herself Into the Wild West. The New York Times. May 21, 2020. June 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200615222750/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/books/c-pam-zhang-how-much-of-these-hills-is-gold.html. live.
  4. News: May 19, 2020. An Indies Introduce Q&A With C Pam Zhang. Jake. Cumsky-Whitlock. American Booksellers Association. May 21, 2020. May 29, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200529021411/https://www.bookweb.org/news/indies-introduce-qa-c-pam-zhang-577276. live.
  5. Web site: How Much of These Hills Is Gold . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230219174853/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576912/how-much-of-these-hills-is-gold-by-c-pam-zhang/ . February 19, 2023 . May 21, 2020 . Penguin Random House.
  6. News: Southgate . Martha . April 7, 2020 . A Haunting Debut Novel Brings New Faces to the Myth of the American West . The New York Times.
  7. News: Burling . Alexis . March 31, 2020 . Review: 'How Much of These Hills Is Gold' is a fierce reimagining of the American West . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200627014704/https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/review-how-much-of-these-hills-is-gold-is-a-fierce-reimagining-of-historys-american-west . June 27, 2020 . May 21, 2020 . SF Chronicle.
  8. Web site: C Pam Zhang . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200521230817/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2172652/c-pam-zhang/ . 2020-05-21 . 2020-05-21 . Penguin Random House.
  9. News: Marshall . Alex . July 27, 2020 . Hilary Mantel, Kiley Reid, Anne Tyler in Running for Booker Prize . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200802004715/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/27/books/hilary-mantel-booker-prize-longlist.html . August 2, 2020 . August 2, 2020 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  10. Web site: C Pam Zhang . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210525194502/https://www.nationalbook.org/people/c-pam-zhang/ . 2021-05-25 . 2021-05-25 . National Book Foundation . en-US.
  11. Web site: 2021 Lambda Literary Award Finalists . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210513083951/https://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/current-finalists/ . 2021-05-13 . 2021-05-25 . Lambda Literary . en.
  12. News: Staff . The New York Times Books . 2023-11-21 . 100 Notable Books of 2023 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231126000045/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/21/books/notable-books.html . 2023-11-26 . 2023-11-26 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  13. Web site: July 27, 2020 . The 2020 Booker Prize longlist announced . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201124130351/https://thebookerprizes.com/booker-prize/news/2020-booker-prize-longlist-announced . November 24, 2020 . August 16, 2020 . The Booker Prizes.
  14. Book: Booth, Heather . Top 10 First Novels on Audio: 2020 . 2020-11-20 . 2022-01-11 . Booklist.
  15. Web site: How Much of These Hills is Gold. 2022-01-11. Goodreads.
  16. News: Saka. Rasheeda. October 1, 2020. Here's the shortlist for the Center for Fiction's 2020 First Novel Prize.. Literary Hub. January 31, 2021.
  17. Web site: How Much of These Hills is Gold. 2022-01-11. Goodreads.
  18. Web site: How Much of These Hills is Gold. 2022-01-11. Goodreads.
  19. Web site: 2021 Literature Award Winners – American Academy of Arts and Letters. 2021-04-14. en-US.
  20. Web site: January 25, 2021 . 2021 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Winners Selected – APALA . 2021-02-19 . en-US.
  21. Web site: 2020-01-13. How Much of These Hills is Gold. 2022-01-11. Kirkus Reviews.
  22. Web site: 2021-03-15. Here are the finalists for the 2021 Lambda Literary Award.. 2021-04-14. Literary Hub. en-US.
  23. Web site: 2021-01-25. Announcing the Finalists for the 2020 NBCC Awards. 2021-02-19. National Book Critics Circle. en-US.
  24. Web site: 2020-03-23. PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. 2021-02-19. PEN America. en.
  25. Web site: Announcing the 2021 Young Lions Fiction Award Finalists. April 9, 2021. 2021-07-31. The New York Public Library.
  26. News: Kleeman . Alexandra . 2023-09-21 . A Lush Novel at the Nexus of Food, Pleasure, Wealth and Catastrophe . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-10-14 . 0362-4331 . 2023-10-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231013211856/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/21/books/review/c-pam-zhang-land-of-milk-and-honey.html . live .
  27. 2023-09-25 . C Pam Zhang on Relishing Pleasure, Observing Billionaires, and Writing a Love Story . 2023-10-14 . Vanity Fair . en-US . 2023-10-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231014181646/https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/09/c-pam-zhang-on-relishing-pleasure-observing-billionaires-and-writing-a-love-story . live .
  28. Web site: Bansinath . Bindu . 2023-09-19 . "I Don't Like the Feeling of Being Pinned Down" . 2023-10-14 . The Cut . en.

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