Hilary Tham

Hilary Tham (August 20, 1946 – June 24, 2005), also known as Hilary Tham Goldberg, was a Malaysian-born American poet. Tham studied English literature in Malaysia before marrying an American Peace Corps worker. She then converted to Judaism and immigrated to the U.S. Tham published many books of poetry and was editor-in-chief for the nonprofit poetry publishing house, Word Works.

Biography The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Hilary Tham was born in Klang, Malaysia. She attended a convent school run by Irish nuns, a Catholic school run by Dominican friars, and a prep school in Kuala Lumpur. She received her bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Malaya in 1969. She converted to Judaism after marrying Jewish-American Peace Corps worker, Joseph Goldberg, in Malaysia. In 1971, the couple immigrated to the United States, first settling in New Jersey and then moving to Arlington, Virginia two years later. She chaired the Northern Virginia Coalition, a nonprofit organization that helped to resettle Vietnamese refugees, She has been categorized as a "Chinese-Malaysian writer with Judaic influences."

No Gods Today. 1969. Paper Boats: Poems. 1987. . Bad Names for Women. 1989. . Tigerbone Wine (Poems). 1992. . Men & Other Strange Myths: Poems and Art. 1994. . Counting: A Long Poem. 2000. . Reality Check & Other Travel Poems & Art. 2001. . The Tao of Mrs. Wei. 2003. .

Memoir Lane With No Name: Memoirs and Poems of a Malaysian-Chinese Girlhood. 1997. .

Short story Tin Mines and Concubines. 2005. .