Alice Pung
Author and editor.
Early life
Pung was born in Footscray, Melbourne, to parents who had fled Cambodia. Her account of family life and growing up in suburban Melbourne became the basis for her first memoir, Unpolished Gem. Her parents arrived in Australia shortly before she was born.
Writing and legal work
Pung studied law and worked as a legal researcher before establishing her writing career. She published Unpolished Gem and Her Father’s Daughter, and edited Growing Up Asian in Australia, an anthology of writing by Asian Australians. She has also written fiction for younger readers.
Recognition
Unpolished Gem received the Australian Book Industry Award for Newcomer of the Year. Pung received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2022 for service to literature. The Victorian Government biography describes both her writing and legal work.