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.

C Pam Zhang
Born	1990 (age 34–35) Beijing, China
Occupation	Writer
Alma mater	Brown University Cambridge University
Notable works	How Much of These Hills Is Gold (2020) Land of Milk and Honey (2023)
Website
cpamzhang.com

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 a 2017 Truman Capote Fellow at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.^[4]

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.^[3]

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

Zhang's second novel, Land of Milk and Honey, published in 2023, is set in a near-future ecological crisis where a global smog has wiped out biodiversity and collapsed agriculture.^[12][7][13]

The protagonist, a 29-year-old unnamed Asian American chef, leaves collapsed England to work in a secluded elite research facility in the Italian Alps.^[12][13][14]

The mountain enclave, owned by a reclusive capitalist, is one of the few places where food still grows. It serves as both a biobank and a sanctuary for investors and scientists developing genetically engineered plants and animals.^[7][14][15] The chef is hired to prepare elaborate meals from rare and extinct ingredients for wealthy backers. Her culinary work is used to evoke emotion and secure financial support.^[12][13][15]

The novel explores moral dilemmas about resource hoarding, scientific elitism, and survival amid collapse.^[12][14][15]

The book was listed in The New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2023.^[16] It was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.^[17]

Awards

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result	Ref
2020	How Much of These Hills Is Gold	Booker Prize	—	Longlisted	[18][3]
		Booklist Best First Novels on Audio	—	Top 10	[19]
		California Book Award	First Fiction (Gold)	Won	[20]
		Center for Fiction First Novel Prize	—	Shortlisted	[21]
		Goodreads Choice Award	Debut Novel	Nominated	[20]
		Reading Women Award	Fiction	Nominated	[20]
2021		American Academy of Arts and Letters Rosenthal Family Foundation Award	—	Won	[22]
		Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature	Adult Fiction	Won	[23][24]
		Lambda Literary Award	Bisexual Fiction	Shortlisted	[25]
		National Book Critics Circle Award	John Leonard Prize	Shortlisted	[26]
		PEN/Hemingway Award	—	Shortlisted	[27]
		Young Lions Fiction Award	—	Shortlisted	[28]
2023	Land of Milk and Honey	Goodreads Choice Awards	Science Fiction	Nominated
2024		Aspen Words Literary Prize	—	Longlisted
		Audie Award	Fiction Narrator	Shortlisted
		BookTube Prize	Fiction	Octofinalist
		Carol Shields Prize for Fiction	—	Longlisted	[17]
		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.^[29][30][31]