{{short description|Canadian author|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Kevin Chong | image = Kevin Chong at AWP 2025 01 (cropped).jpg | caption = Chong at AWP 2025 | birth_date = 1975 | education = University of British Columbia (BA)<br /> Columbia University (MFA) | occupation = Writer }}

'''Kevin Chong''' (born 1975) is a Canadian author. Born in Hong Kong, Chong studied at the University of British Columbia and Columbia University, where he received an MFA in fiction writing.

His first novel, ''Baroque-a-Nova'', was published in Canada by Penguin in 2001, in the United States by Putnam in 2002, and in France by Ballard in 2002. ''The New York Times Book Review'' describes the book as "a readable, if slightly gray, coming-of-age novel."<ref name=nytbaroque/> The Quill and Quire described the book as "compact, clear-sighted, and nervy. Chong's grasp of suburban tackiness is laugh-out-loud awesome, right down to the ubiquitous copies of Maclean's magazine on parental coffee tables and trick or treaters dressed as Orville Redenbacher."<ref name = qq/>

His second book ''Neil Young Nation'' (2005), a non-fiction work, traces the steps of Neil Young's 1970 trip across Canada and the United States. ''New York Times Book Review'' of compared the book to "watching an endless home movie in which a not very close friend visits all the houses he grew up in."<ref name=nytnyn/> The Georgia Straight suggested that "Still looking for happiness, community, and fulfillment, Chong is a genuine seeker-and his journey is a ride worth taking."<ref name=gs/>

Chong works extensively as a freelance journalist.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-04 |title=About |url=https://thatkevinchong.com/about/ |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=Kevin Chong}}</ref> His creative nonfiction and journalism have appeared in the ''Guardian'', the ''Times Literary Supplement'', the ''Rumpus'', and the ''South China Morning Post''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kevin Chong |url=https://fccs.ok.ubc.ca/about/contact/kevin-chong/ |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=fccs.ok.ubc.ca}}</ref>

His 2023 novel ''The Double Life of Benson Yu'' was shortlisted for the Giller Prize.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-11 |title=5 Canadian authors shortlisted for $100K Scotiabank Giller Prize |url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/5-canadian-authors-shortlisted-for-100k-scotiabank-giller-prize-1.6986623|access-date=2023-10-11 |website=CBC Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/12-canadian-books-make-longlist-for-100k-scotiabank-giller-prize-1.6956931|title=12 Canadian books make longlist for $100K Scotiabank Giller Prize|website=CBC Books|date=2023-09-06|access-date=6 September 2023}}</ref>

Chong lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

==Bibliography==

===Novels=== *''Baroque-a-Nova'', 2001 *''Beauty Plus Pity'', 2011 *''The Plague'', 2018 *''The Double Life of Benson Yu'', 2023

===Non-fiction=== *''Neil Young Nation: a quest, an obsession, and a true story'', 2005 *''My Year of The Race Horse'', 2012 *''Northern Dancer: The Legendary Horse that Inspired a Nation'', 2014

== References == <references> <ref name=nytbaroque>Kaufman, King. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E4D6173FF93BA15757C0A9649C8B63 "Meet the Parents"], ''New York Times'' Book Review, 28 April 2002. (URL accessed 24 May 2006).</ref> <ref name=nytnyn>Kamiya, Gary. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/books/review/13kamiya.html?adxnnl=1&amp;emc=eta1&amp;adxnnlx=1131825705-fGD9ghWk40ToEFc2Y/uf1w " 'Neil Young Nation': On the Road"], ''New York Times'' Book Review, 13 November 2005. (URL accessed 24 May 2006)</ref> <ref name=gs>[https://www.straight.com/article/neil-young-nation-by-kevin-chong The Georgia Straight]</ref> <ref name=qq>[http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=2174 The Quill and Quire]</ref> <!-- <ref name=nationalpost>[https://nationalpost.com/afterword/peter-darbyshire-any-publicity-is-good-publicity National Post]</ref> --> </references>

== External links == * [http://www.kevinchong.ca/ Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104144303/http://www.kevinchong.ca/ |date=4 January 2015 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20051230013014/http://writersfest.bc.ca/2005festival/author.php?author=15 Kevin Chong], profile from the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070513203042/http://www.greystonebooks.com/gs_book_details.asp?b=995 Neil Young Nation page on Greystone Books website]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Kevin}} Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian male novelists Category:Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Category:Hong Kong emigrants to Canada Category:University of British Columbia alumni Category:Novelists from Vancouver Category:21st-century Canadian novelists Category:21st-century Canadian male writers Category:Canadian writers of Asian descent