Jean Kwok

Biography

When Jean was five years old, her family emigrated to Brooklyn, New York. The apartment that she, her parents and siblings lived in was roach-infested and they did not have any central heating. She had to work in a Chinatown clothing factory for much of her childhood. After elementary school, Kwok was accepted to Hunter College High School, a public secondary school for intellectually gifted students. Upon graduation from high school, she won early admission to Harvard College. Originally interested in science, in part to escape a life toiling in a factory, she realized when she was at Harvard that she could follow her dream instead. This realization prompted Jean to change her concentration to English and American Literature. She received her BA in English with honors, all while working up to four jobs at a time. After her graduation from Harvard, Kwok needed a day job to help support herself while she was writing. She spent three years working for Fred Astaire East Side Studio in New York City as a professional ballroom dancer. Kwok then decided it was time to go back to school and received her MFA in fiction from Columbia University. After that, she moved to the Netherlands for love and worked for Leiden University, teaching English and as a Dutch-English translator. She speaks English, Chinese, Dutch and studied Latin. She lives in the Netherlands with her husband and two sons, and now writes full-time.

Girl in Translation

Kwok's debut novel Girl in Translation was published by Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin, in May 2010 and became a New York Times bestseller. It has been published in 18 countries and translated into 16 languages. Kwok drew upon her personal experience to write this novel about an exceptionally bright young girl who leads a double life in an exclusive private school and a Chinatown sweatshop. Although Kwok's family was initially reluctant to share their story via her writing, they were ultimately proud that their story had been told.

Author Min Jin Lee compared the novel to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Nicole Tsong in the Seattle Times commented on Kwok's innovative use of language that allows readers to experience the linguistic barriers for themselves: "Kwok uses the potent combination of... halting English and a sophisticated internal narration about her new life to tell [the heroine's] story." Hannah Lee in the Philadelphia Jewish Voice noted that Girl in Translation was "as accurate to my childhood and upbringing in the world of New York's garment factories as a novel can be." Girl in Translation was featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Vogue and O, The Oprah Magazine, among others.

Mambo in Chinatown

Kwok's experience working as a professional ballroom dancer helped her to write her second novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into the world of ballroom dancing.

Kwok's second novel Mambo in Chinatown was also published by Riverhead Books in the United States on June 24, 2014. It has been published in 8 countries and translated into 7 languages. It was one of the New and Noteworthy Books listed by USA Today in June 2014 and was selected for Penguin Stacks and Best Books of 2014 by Real Simple and Woman's Day. The Chicago Tribune wrote, "rarely has [this story] been told with such grace, lightness and humor as in this delightful novel" while the Boston Herald called it "a great story of cultural conflict and reaching for your dreams."

Future writing

Kwok said in an interview with Banana Writers that she's "working on a new book and that one will be about grief, rebirth and Europe."

Honors and awards