Jessica Zhan Mei Yu Jessica Zhan Mei Yu i(16053272 works by)
Writing name for: Jessica Yu
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Jessica Zhan Mei Yu's manuscript But the Girl, which was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards in 2021 (unpublished manuscript award) was sold in April 2023 to The Unnamed Press.

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon But the Girl Camberwell : Hamish Hamilton , 2023 26224453 2023 single work novel

'Irreverent, witty and wise, But the Girl is a campus novel set off campus, and a coming-of-age story about not wanting to leave your family behind

'I used to have this line I saved and brought out for grant applications and writers festivals - that having been Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina and Esther Greenwood all my life, my writing was an opportunity for the reader to have to be me

'Girl was born on the very day her parents and grandmother immigrated from Malaysia to Australia. The story goes that her mother held on tight to her pelvic muscles in an effort to gift her the privilege of an Australian passport. But it's hard to be the embodiment of all your family's hopes and dreams, especially in a country that's hostile to your very existence.

'When Girl receives a scholarship to travel to the UK, she is finally free for the first time. In the gilded rooms of London and then Scotland she is meant to be working on a PhD on Sylvia Plath and writing a postcolonial novel. But Girl can't stop thinking about her upbringing and the stories of the people who raised her. How can she reconcile their expectations with her lived reality? Did Sylvia Plath have this problem? What even is a 'postcolonial novel'? And what if the story of becoming yourself is not about carving out a new identity, but learning to understand the people who made you who you are?' (Publication summary)

2024 shortlisted Readings Prizes Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction
2024 shortlisted The Age Book of the Year Award Book of the Year
2024 longlisted APA Book Design Awards Best Designed Literary Fiction / Poetry Cover designed by Sandy Cull.
2024 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Prize for Fiction
2021 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript by an Emerging Victorian Writer
Last amended 18 Apr 2023 13:12:24
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