About
I was born and raised in Malaysia, and live in the UK.
I’m the author of the Sorcerer to the Crown novels, historical fantasies with a postcolonial sensibility about magicians in 1800s London. I’ve also published a short story collection, Spirits Abroad, and a novella about nuns and bandits in a wuxia take on Emergency Malaya, The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water. My newest novel is a contemporary Malaysian fantasy called Black Water Sister.
My writing has been awarded the Crawford, British Fantasy and Hugo Awards, and the LA Times Book Prize/Ray Bradbury Prize. I’ve also been shortlisted for the World Fantasy, Lambda and Locus Awards, and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.
My literary agent is Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates. For film/TV rights, I am represented by Angela Cheng Caplan of Cheng Caplan Company, Inc.
For a proper bio, author photos, cover images and rights queries, please check out my press kit. If you’ve got any questions, you can contact me directly here (though they might be answered in my FAQ).
Press Kit
Zen Cho is the author of the Sorcerer to the Crown novels, Black Water Sister and various shorter fiction. Her work has won the Hugo, Crawford and British Fantasy Awards, and the LA Times Book Prize/Ray Bradbury Prize. Born and raised in Malaysia, Zen now lives in the UK.
Zen Cho is the author of the Sorcerer to the Crown novels, the novella The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water and a short story collection, Spirits Abroad. Her newest novel is Black Water Sister, a contemporary fantasy set in Malaysia. Zen is a winner of the Hugo, Crawford and British Fantasy Awards and the LA Times Book Prize/Ray Bradbury Prize, as well as a finalist for the World Fantasy, Ignyte, Lambda, Locus and Astounding Awards. She was born and raised in Malaysia, resides in the UK, and lives in a notional space between the two.
Zen Cho was born and raised in Malaysia, and lives in the UK. She is the author of the Sorcerer to the Crown historical fantasy novels, the Lambda Award-nominated novella The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water and a short story collection, Spirits Abroad. Her newest novel Black Water Sister, a contemporary fantasy set in Malaysia, has been shortlisted for the World Fantasy, Ignyte and Locus Awards.
Zen’s short fiction has been awarded a Hugo, honour-listed for the Carl Brandon Society Awards, and translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Finnish, Chinese and Japanese. She was a finalist for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, and won the Crawford Award and the LA Times Book Prize/Ray Bradbury Prize for Spirits Abroad, as well as the British Fantasy Award for Best Newcomer for Sorcerer to the Crown. Sorcerer to the Crown was also a nominee for various other awards, including the Locus Award for Best First Novel, and featured on multiple “Best Books of 2015” lists.
Zen edited the short story anthology Cyberpunk: Malaysia, a finalist for the Popular-The Star Readers’ Choice Awards. She has been a juror for the Speculative Literature Foundation Diverse Writers and Diverse Worlds grants and a SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America) mentor for emerging writers, as well as serving on the Board of the non-profit Con or Bust. She co-organised UK convention Nine Worlds Geekfest’s first Race & Culture programming track. She has spoken about genre and social justice on BBC Radio, Minnesota Public Radio News and Al Jazeera’s online daily TV show The Stream.
When she isn’t writing, Zen works as a lawyer. She enjoys cooking and baking, reading, gossip and travel.
