# C Pam Zhang

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 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.
She attended Brown University and studied at Cambridge University. Zhang was a 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. 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."
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."
Zhang has been awarded support from Tin House, Bread Loaf, and Aspen Words. In 2020, Zhang was nominated for the Booker Prize. The same year, Zhang was named a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" Honoree.

### Land of Milk and Honey

Zhang's second novel, Land of Milk and Honey, published in 2023, follows an Asian Californian chef who accepts a job in a mountain community of the super rich. The novel is set against the backdrop of environmental collapse and food scarcity. The book was listed in The New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2023. It was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

## Awards

| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result |
| 2020 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | Booker Prize | — | Longlisted |
| 2020 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | Booklist Best First Novels on Audio | — | Top 10 |
| 2020 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | California Book Award | First Fiction (Gold) | Won |
| 2020 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | Center for Fiction First Novel Prize | — | Shortlisted |
| 2020 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | Goodreads Choice Award | Debut Novel | Nominated |
| 2020 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | Reading Women Award | Fiction | Nominated |
| 2021 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | American Academy of Arts and Letters Rosenthal Family Foundation Award | — | Won |
| 2021 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature | Adult Fiction | Won |
| 2021 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | Lambda Literary Award | Bisexual Fiction | Shortlisted |
| 2021 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | National Book Critics Circle Award | John Leonard Prize | Shortlisted |
| 2021 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | PEN/Hemingway Award | — | Shortlisted |
| 2021 | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | Young Lions Fiction Award | — | Shortlisted |
| 2023 | Land of Milk and Honey | Goodreads Choice Awards | Science Fiction | Nominated |
| 2024 | Land of Milk and Honey | Aspen Words Literary Prize | — | Longlisted |
| 2024 | Land of Milk and Honey | Audie Award | Fiction Narrator | Shortlisted |
| 2024 | Land of Milk and Honey | BookTube Prize | Fiction | Octofinalist |
| 2024 | Land of Milk and Honey | Carol Shields Prize for Fiction | — | Longlisted |
| 2024 | Land of Milk and Honey | Young Lions Fiction Award | — | Shortlisted |

## Selected texts

* —— (2020). How Much of These Hills Is Gold. New York: Riverhead. ISBN 9780593189290.
* —— (2023). Land of Milk and Honey. New York: Riverhead. ISBN 9780593538241.