Andrew X. Pham

"Andrew Pham" redirects here. For the fictional character, see Run the Burbs.

Andrew X. Pham is a Vietnamese-born American author who is the founder of Spoonwiz.

Extended biography

Born in Phan Thiet in 1967, Pham's father Thong was a teacher and his mother a laundress. Pham had two sisters, Chi and Kay, and three younger brothers Huy, Tien, and Hien. During the Vietnam War, Thong worked for the South Vietnamese Army in its propaganda department. He was eventually captured by the Vietcong and sent to Minh Luong Prison re-education camp for several months. After Thong's release, the family decided to flee by boat to Malaysia. As the boat was falling apart at sea they were rescued by an Indonesian freighter, which brought them to Indonesia. Pham's family spent 18 months in a refugee camp in Jakarta. The First Baptist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana flew the Pham family to Louisiana and sponsored them there. Nine months later, the Pham family relocated to San Jose, California. After finishing high school, Pham attended UCLA to study engineering.

Works

• Pham, Andrew X. (1999-09-29). Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-11974-4. (1999)
• Pham, Andrew X. (2008). The Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars. Harmony Books. ISBN 978-0-307-38120-0. (2008)
• Pham, Andrew X. (2024). Twilight Territory: A Novel. W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-1-324-06484-8. (2024)

Awards

• 1999 Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for Catfish and Mandala (memoir)
• 2000 Whiting Award
• 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship

External links

• https://www.andrewxpham.com/, official website.
• Andrew X Pham, author's Facebook fan page.
• Profile at The Whiting Foundation
• Excerpt from The Eaves of Heaven at BookBrowse