person or book cover
Courtesy of Black Inc.
y separately published work icon Unpolished Gem single work   autobiography  
Alternative title: Unpolished Gem : My Mother, My Grandmother, and Me
Issue Details: First known date: 2006... 2006 Unpolished Gem
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Unpolished Gem tells the story of growing up with a Chinese-Cambodian family in Australia, Alice dives headfirst into schooling, romance and the getting of wisdom. Meanwhile, her mother becomes an Aussie Battler - an outworker, that is, her father starts up a chain of electrical appliance stores, and her grandmother blesses Father Government every day for giving old people money. (Back cover blurb).


Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

Unit Suitable ForAC: Senior Secondary Literature (Year 12, Unit 3)

DurationEight weeks

Curriculum Summary

Find a summary table for Australian Curriculum: English content descriptions and NSW syllabus outcomes for this unit.

Themes

Australian identity, coming of age, Day of the Girl, family, impact of family on the individual, importance of story, Language, mental illness, oppresssion, power of language, resilience, women

General Capabilities

Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding, Intercultural understanding, Literacy

Cross-curriculum Priorities

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia

Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

This work has teaching resources.

Also available to download on publisher's website :

  Non-Fiction Text for English and ESL NSW HSC 2015-2020

  Australian Curriculum Questions for Unpolished Gem

(https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/unpolished-gem) 

Notes

  • Featured by the BIG Book Club, September 2007

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Black Inc. , 2006 .
      person or book cover
      Courtesy of Black Inc.
      Extent: 282p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 31 August 2006

      ISBN: 186395158X, 9781863951586 (pbk.)
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Portobello Books ,
      2008 .
      image of person or book cover 7883098023651062719.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 282p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: 1 August 2008
      ISBN: 9781846271434, 1846271436, 9781846271762
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Black Inc. , 2008 .
      image of person or book cover 2246262271813813130.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9781846271434, 1846271436
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Penguin Books ,
      2009 .
      image of person or book cover 4913031100717888623.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: xi, 282 pp.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: 1 February 2009
      ISBN: 9780452290006
Alternative title: Gemma impura
Language: Italian
    • c
      Italy,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Mobydick ,
      2010 .
      image of person or book cover 2601741723403877907.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 261p.
      ISBN: 9788881784561, 8881784564

Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.

Works about this Work

Writer Alice Pung Jessica Zhan Mei Yu , 2020 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 25-31 January 2020;

'More than a decade after her best-selling debut, Unpolished Gem, Alice Pung remains one of Australia’s most beloved authors for her gentle yet forthright prose. She speaks about racism, role models and motherhood. “As a writer, I don’t know if you can really see from another person’s perspective … It is important to try and put yourself in someone else’s shoes, but I’ve realised in the last five years you can never really do it.” By Jessica Zhan Mei Yu.' (Introduction)

On Necessary Disjointedness : The Pol Pot Period in Alice Pung’s Memoirs Patrick Allington , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Life Writing , vol. 14 no. 4 2017; (p. 465-474)

'This paper analyses the memoirs of Australian writer Alice Pung in the contexts of her suburban Melbourne upbringing, her parents’ status as refugees, and Cambodia’s Pol Pot period. The author discusses the changed way Pung deals with the Pol Pot period from Unpolished Gem (2006) to Her Father’s Daughter (2011), and in particular the necessary disjointedness that is a consequence of the latter memoir’s more direct and deep focus on Pung’s father’s experiences during the Pol Pot period. The author concludes by locating Pung’s works, particularly Her Father’s Daughter, among various other memoirs of the Pol Pot period, including poet U Sam Oeur’s memoir, Crossing Three Wildernesses (2005). Placed among other memoirs of survival and loss, the author suggests, Pung brings a distinctive perspective as the child of a survivor of the Pol Pot period.'  (Publication abstract)

Them Spitting Eels Shu-Ling Chua , 2016 single work prose
— Appears in: Peril : An Asian-Australian Journal , June no. 24 2016;
Unpolished Gem/Gemma impura the Journey from Australia to Italy of Alice Pung’s Bestselling Novel Adele D'Arcangelo , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 1 2014;
'Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem was translated into Italian in 2010. Giving some examples of the challenge this work of translation presented, Adele D'Arcangelo will try to put Pung's novel in the picture of a wider production of multicultural literature available in Italy. Positive aspects related to the reception of Gemma Impura in Italy will be pointed out as well as the vital and fundamental collaboration between author and translator. The innate potentialities of Unpolished Gem to transform a personal experience in a universal one were doubled by the translation of the book in another language, allowing a wider and more eclectic readership to become familiar with Alice's story, and making its Australian setting overcome the boundaries of language and space.' (Publication abstract)
Keep Your Eyes on the Horizon and Your Feet on the Ground : Some Reflections on Implementing the Australian Curriculum : English Karen Moni , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: English in Australia , vol. 47 no. 3 2012; (p. 13-19)
Shorts Veronica Sen , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 26 August 2006; (p. 16)

— Review of Border Street Suzanne Leal , 2006 single work novel ; Unpolished Gem Alice Pung , 2006 single work autobiography
A Walk between Cultures Juliette Hughes , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 2 September 2006; (p. 25)

— Review of Unpolished Gem Alice Pung , 2006 single work autobiography
Life and Love Rebuilt in a Foreign Land Patrick Allington , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 9-10 September 2006; (p. 10-11)

— Review of Unpolished Gem Alice Pung , 2006 single work autobiography
In Short : Nonfiction Bruce Elder , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 16-17 September 2006; (p. 35)

— Review of Unpolished Gem Alice Pung , 2006 single work autobiography
[Review] Unpolished Gem Matthia Dempsey , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , September vol. 86 no. 3 2006; (p. 41)

— Review of Unpolished Gem Alice Pung , 2006 single work autobiography
What I've Learnt : Alice Pung, Writer Alice Pung , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 26 August 2006; (p. 13)
Unpolished Gem Inspired By Our City's Wonderland Peter Weekes , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 3 September 2006; (p. 5)
Alice's Gem Matthia Dempsey (interviewer), 2006 single work interview
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , September vol. 86 no. 3 2006; (p. 44)
2009 an HSC Odyssey Hannah Edwards , 2007 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 22 July 2007; (p. 9)
The column discusses the new draft list of works to be taught in New South Wales schools from 2009. Only the new Australian works to be added have been listed here.
My Space : Alice Pung Lindy Percival (interviewer), 2007 single work interview
— Appears in: The Age , 11 August 2007; (p. 11)
Last amended 27 Apr 2020 12:44:30
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