Pam Chun

Biography

Best-selling author Pam Chun's award-winning first novel, THE MONEY DRAGON, was named one of 2002's Best Books of Hawaii. In 2003, her novel received a Ka Palapala Po'okela Award for Excellence in Literature.

Pam Chun has been featured on National Public Radio, at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., at the National Archives and Records Administration's Conference on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and in the documentary,HAWAII'S CHINATOWN, which premiered on Hawaii PBS. Pam has been a speaker at Alameda's first Literary Festival for readers, San Francisco's first Litquake, the San Francisco Writer's Conference, the Bamboo Ridge Writer's Workshop, and many universities. Multi-page interviews of Pam and her publications appear in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Honolulu Advertiser, The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the Seattle International Examiner, the South China News (China) and Alameda Magazine. Reviews of her novels have appeared in national publications and internationally. AOLTravel has published her travel articles online.

THE MONEY DRAGON, Pam's first novel, topped the best seller upon its hardback and paperback release. In 2003, her novel received a Kapalapala Po`okela Award for excellence in literature from the Hawaii Book Publisher's Association. An excerpt from THE MONEY DRAGON is included in the anthology Honolulu Stories (2006).

Pam Chun's second novel, WHEN STRANGE GODS CALL, which expanded on one of the scandals of her infamous family, focused on the contemporary clash of cultures in Hawaii and received the 2005 Ka Palapala Po`okela Award for excellence in literature. THE SEAGULL'S GARDENER is a memoir of distance caregiving for her father from 3,000 miles away. Her latest novel is THE PERFECT TEA THIEF.

Pam is a storyteller at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. She was honored as one of 2004's four Outstanding Overseas Chinese by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. She served as fiction judge for the 2007 and 2008 Kiriyama Prize for Pacific Rim Literature

Pam lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Transpac sailor Fred J. Joyce III. She has one son, a U.S. diplomat stationed overseas with his family.

Where to find Pam Chun online

Books

The Money Dragon
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 95,620. Language: English. Published: March 30, 2015 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » Family history, Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
In this stunning novel, Pam Chun brings to life the story of Lau Ah Leong, the Money Dragon, the legendary founder of Honolulu’s Chinatown and his 5 wives. The great-granddaughter of Ah Leong, Chun reaches deep into family history to reveal a startling tale that depicts the tumult and opportunity that occurs when the deep-rooted traditions of the Chinese people conflict with the Americans.
The Perfect Tea Thief
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 118,630. Language: English. Published: September 15, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Literature » Literary, Nonfiction » History » Asian » China
In 1843, under the guise of a plant hunter for the British Horticultural Society, Robert Fortune's secret mission is to steal China's secrets of tea production, a brazen act of industrial espionage that will devastate China's 5,000-year-old civilization. He audaciously ventures into prohibited lands and pursues beautiful Jadelin from the House of Poe, unaware she is trained as a warrior.
The Seagull's Gardener: My Father's Last Odyssey
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 55,310. Language: English. Originally Published: March 30, 2012 by Pam Chun. Categories: Nonfiction » Health, wellbeing, & medicine » Aging well, Nonfiction » Biography » Cultural heritage
In the early 1900s Woody grew up running barefoot in the lush valleys of Territorial Hawaii. As he approaches ninety he insists he’s too busy to die. A tale told with photos of Old Hawaii, signature dishes, & unforgettable dreams, Pam Chun’s lyrical memoir of her father describes their bond across time and distance and her frustration of caring from him from 3,000 miles away.
When Strange Gods Call
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 72,490. Language: English. Published: May 19, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Literary collections » Asian / Chinese, Fiction » Cultural & ethnic themes » Asian American
2005 Winner - Ka Palapala Po'okela Award Winner! Hawaii, a tropical paradise alive with history and myths, lures elegant Miki from art-rich San Francisco and her childhood friend Alex from the jungle covered temples in South East Asia. Generations of animosity between their families, marked by death and deceit, threaten the couple in this tale lush with stormy spirits and passions of the past.