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 at the University of Melbourne.

Life

Pung was born to ethnic Teochew Chinese 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, because her father saw Australia as a wonderland. She was born in the suburb of Footscray in Melbourne 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, and Mac.Robertson Girls' High School. Pung studied law at the University of Melbourne 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 at the University of Iowa as a resident in 2009. She is a regular writer for The Monthly on topics such as race discrimination, class, cultural stereotypes, and experiences of living in Melbourne, Victoria. In November 2020, the Melbourne Theatre Company announced that it will adapt Pung's novel, Laurinda, for the stage.

Books

Articles

Critical studies and reviews of Pung's work

Her Father's Daughter (2011) Growing Up Asian in Australia (editor, 2008) Unpolished Gem (2006)

Awards and recognition

In the 2022 Australia Day Honours Pung was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to literature.

Unpolished Gem

Her Father's Daughter

Laurinda

One Hundred Days

Millie Mak the Maker