INFO
| Name | Sharon Lam (she/her) |
| Also known as | 林頌恩 |
| Born | 1993 |
| Country of Birth | Aotearoa |
| Place of Residence | London |
| Artform | Literature |
| Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Sharon Lam was born in Hong Kong, then moved with her family between Japan, Singapore, UK and Ōtepoti Dunedin, Ōtautahi Christchurch, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington in Aotearoa. Lam’s diverse practice spans fiction writing, illustration, animation, architectural design and exhibition design. Her distinctive, playful use of language, sharp observational commentary and “comedic surrealist tone” “simultaneously make the mundane hilarious and insightful.”
Growing up, Lam spent significant time “consuming” TV and libraries, she “would inhale cartoons and books” and create little drawings and pieces to share with others.
From 2013 to 2016, while studying architecture at Victoria University, Lam wrote for the student magazine Salient under a weekly column ‘Single Sad Postgrad’. Seeing her work published in print with a “fateful yes” from an editor was an affirming moment in her creative journey. Since then, her fiction and non-fiction writing has appeared in various places, including Starling, The Spinoff, The Pantograph Punch, and E-flux. Lam talks about friendship, the relief of no longer being compelled to participate in school athletics days, the Christchurch bus station, Hong Kong protests, her architecture journey (which she credits as starting with The Sims). She remains a kitchen-table writer — “the Woolfian room of one’s own still eludes me”.
In 2019, Lam published her debut novel Lonely Asian Women with Lawrence & Gibson after finishing a Masters in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters. The novel invites readers to follow the main character Paula’s (mis)adventures and introspections, offering an honest depiction of young adulthood. Through “a series of misjudged decisions, patchy attempts at normalcy along with the occasional moment of joy”, Lam shifts focus from the grand coming of age arc to explore the small bits of mundane. Moments of existential ennui, life’s little and messier successes made her characters relatable and alive with strong love and hate. “She excels in short form writing, elaborating on small stories or a train of thought”. Her direct and honest approach to writing turns daily absurdity into relieving laughter.
After working in architecture in Hong Kong for a few years, Sharon moved to London, and is now working in exhibition design.
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2023 — DIVA at V&A South Kensington (exhibition design)
2021 — 'A letter to my future dog' (essay)
2021 — 'The unmitigated joy of never again having to do athletics day' (essay)
2020 — A short comic strip for Cha (comic)
2019 — Lonely Asian Woman (novel)
Key awards
2020 — Jann Medlicott Prize for Fiction, longlist (Lonely Asian Woman)
2016 — NZIA Central Innovation Student Design Awards, finalist (Architecture for You, Me and the Bees)
