Andrew Lam

Andrew is a syndicated writer and an editor with New America Media (formerly called the Pacific News Service), a short story writer, and a regular commentator on NPR's All Things Considered. He co-founded New California Media, an association of 400 ethnic media organizations in California.

His essays have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Baltimore Sun, The Atlanta Journal, and The Chicago Tribune. He has also written essays for magazines like Mother Jones, The Nation, San Francisco Focus, Proult Journal, In Context, and Earth Island Journal.

His new book, Perfume Dreams: Reflections On The Vietnamese Diaspora (Heyday Books), recently won the Pen American "Beyond the Margins" Award.

His short stories are also anthologized widely and taught in many universities and colleges. Many literary journals publish his short stories, including: Manoa Journal, Crab Orchard Review, Nimrod International, Michigan Quarterly West, Zyzzyva, Transfer Magazine, and many others.

Lam's awards include the Society of Professional Journalists' Outstanding Young Journalist Award (1993), The Media Alliance Meritorious award (1994), The World Affairs Council's Excellence in International Journalism Award (1992), the Rockefeller Fellowship at UCLA (1992), and the Asian American Journalists Association National Award (1993 and 1995). He was honored and profiled on KQED television in May 1996 during Asian American heritage month.

Lam was a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University during the 2001-2002 academic year, studying journalism.

Lam was born in Vietnam and came to the United States in 1975 when he was 11 years old. He has a master's degree from San Francisco State University and a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from UC Berkeley.

He was featured in the PBS documentary "My Journey Home," where a film crew followed him back to his homeland, Vietnam.

Lam is working on his first short story collection.