Unpolished Gem

The great Australian dream - Asian style

Genre:

NOT ALL CHINESE-CAMBODIAN STORIES begin with killing fields or 500 years of oppression. Some start in the hustle and smells of Footscray markets. Alice Pung, born of Chinese and Cambodian parents in Melbourne, grew up in a family that lived the Australian life. Her father took up a Retravision franchise and her mother was a true battler, an outworker. This is the delightful story of Alice’s headlong plunge into school, love and life lessons armed only with a true blue Aussie accent and her family’s constant wonder at life in Australia.

About the Author

Alice Pung

Alice is a writer and lawyer. She was born in Footscray, and grew up in Braybrook, attending local primary and secondary schools in Melbourne’s Western suburbs.

She has had her short stories published in The Good Weekend, Meanjin and The Other Side. In 2002 Unpolished Gem was nominated for a Premier’s Literary Award, and in 2005 her story Words won The Other Side prose competition.

Alice was the Australian Newcomer of the Year at the 2007 Australian Book Industry Awards.

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