Emily X.R. Pan

Emily X.R. Pan is a New York Times Bestselling American author of young adult fiction, best known for her debut novel The Astonishing Color of After.

Personal life Pan was born in Illinois and is the only child of Taiwanese parents who immigrated to the United States. Her father is a professor at The College of New Jersey and her mother is a piano and guzheng teacher.

She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Career Pan's debut novel, The Astonishing Color of After, was published by Little, Brown in March 2018 and debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List at #10. The novel follows 15-year old Leigh, who deals with her mother's recent death by suicide through traveling to Taiwan and meeting her maternal grandparents. Believing that her mother has been turned into a great red bird, she tries to find clues in her family history to uncover her mother's secrets.

Pan wrote the novel as a tribute to her grandmother, inspired by her life in colonial Taiwan. Originally it was planned to be historical fiction, set in 1927, and span over 40 years of a Taiwanese woman's life, but Pan ultimately opted for a contemporary setting.

Her second novel, An Arrow to the Moon, was released in April 2022. It was named to NPR's Best Books of 2022 and The Horn Book's Fanfare list of the best of 2022, and was a 2023 Locus Award Finalist.

Awards Won

2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature 2019 Walter Honor Award 2020 Lincoln Award

Nominated

2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature 2018 Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction and for Debut Author