Bonnie Tsui

Bonnie Tsui (born 1979) is an American author and journalist of Hong Kong descent. She was born in Queens, New York, graduated from Harvard University,[1] and currently lives in San Francisco. She grew up a competitive swimmer. American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods was published by Simon & Schuster's Free Press in 2009, and won the 2009-2010 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. The Los Angeles Times[2] said it "explored their class struggles, rivalries, customs and dialects," of the cities Chinatown. Tsui also contributes essays and cultural commentary to well-known American magazines, including The New York Times and California Sunday.[3] Her accolades include the 2019 National Press Foundation Fellowship[4] and the Jane Rainie Opel Young Alumna Award at Harvard University. In 2020, she published a memoir, Why We Swim, with Algonquin Books,[5] which delves into the history of swimming. The New York Times called it an enthusiastic and thoughtful work.[6] Her third book, Sarah & the Big Wave,[7] about big-wave women surfers, will be published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers in spring 2021. She is a member of the San Francisco Writer's Grotto.