C.V. + BIO

Bio

Vivian Pham is a Vietnamese novelist, screenwriter, playwright, essayist, and poet from southwestern Sydney. In high school she wrote a novel called The Coconut Children, which was published in March 2020 by Penguin Random House under the Vintage Literary Imprint. In 2021 she won the Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist Award, and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year.

Vivian has twice attended the International Congress of Youth Voices, a summit for young activists nominated by nonprofits around the world for writing and engagement. In 2023, she served as a mentor for emerging writers at the WestWords Varuna National Writers’ House Residency and won the DVAN-Millay Arts New Author Residency to travel to New York for a month-long residency at the homestead of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Vivian was the 2024 Writer-in-Residence at University of Technology, Sydney. As part of the residency, she completed a novel called Owl Without Winter, which was commissioned by an ecosystem of Australian startup founders. She is a course director and key tutor at Faber Writing Academy, where she designs and teaches her own long-term course on Writing a Novel. Vivian holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Philosophy and Creative Writing from Western Sydney University. She’s currently adapting The Coconut Children for stage with Belvoir Theatre and screen with Exit Films. Vivian runs storytelling workshops for School of Zines, a Western Sydney initiative that puts community and community voices at the forefront of self-publishing.

CV

Publication

2017 ‘The Past Does Not Sleep Soundly’, Southerly Journal, The Long Apprenticeship issue.
2019 ‘The Honeymoon Suite’, Young Writers Showcase.
2020 Excerpts of speech performed at The International Congress of Youth Voices published by The Guardian, and in its entirety by diaCRITICS, Medium.
2020 ‘The Coconut Children’, Penguin Random House Winner of The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year 2021. Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2021 Fiction, NSW Premier’s Literary Award, Multicultural NSW Award 2021, The Voss Literary Prize. Longlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2021 Debut Fiction.
2020 ‘The Self-Portraitist’, The Saturday Paper.
2020 ‘What You Need To Know About Me’, Hawkins Foundation Anthology.
2020 ‘How to have a happy childhood’, in Vogue Australia August 2020.
2020 ‘(Untitled Essay)’, the National Library of Australia’s Library Long Reads, Season of Dreams.
2020 ‘Cherry Time’, Australian Poetry Journal.
2020 ‘Crush', Spectrum’s Spring of Optimism.
2020 ‘The Private Life of Bugs’, Spectrum
2021 ‘(Untitled Reflection)’, SL Magazine openbook
2021 ‘Blue’, ABC Radio National Fictions ‘Untrue Romance’ series.
2021 ‘1900’, PEN Sydney, Displaced.
2021 Introduction in ‘Thoughts Unfold’, a collection of writing by Bonnyrigg High School students in Year 9 and 10.
2022 ‘The Cardboard Neighbourhood’, a short story donated to and published by Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation. Illustrated by Alaa Alfaraon. Published in English, Vietnamese and German.
2023 ‘At Last Was Real: My Identity in Edwardian England’ published by National Portrait Gallery Portrait23: Identity.
2023 ‘Loving in one direction: On Harry Styles and the phenomenon of the fan girl’, Harper’s Bazaar Australia.
2024 ‘Speaking to Water’, Powerhouse Museum.
2024 ‘(Untitled poems)’, Poetry & Prints For Palestine, October 2024.
2024 Museum, A Tiny One, published by Đùm Bọc Collective, featured alongside Matt Huynh’s illustration.
2024 I never heard music, but performed by Katia Geha at the Sydney Opera House, New Now, Omega Ensemble's annual showcase of Australian compositional talent.

Professional

2021 Poems ‘self-portrait of sunset on fire’ and ‘fever dreaming of happy endings’ performed in Requiem, as part of the Sydney Festival from January 16-24.
2021 - Present Stage adaptation of The Coconut Children for Belvoir Theatre. Commissioned as part of Playwriting Australia’s Ignition program.
2021 Judge of the Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction
2021 - Present Film adaptation of The Coconut Children with dir. Ben Lawrence.
2022 Participant in brainstorm workshops for More Than This series, Paramount Plus.
2022 Delivered creative writing workshops at Bonnyrigg High School for Story Factory’s StoryMetro project
2022 Writer of Season 1 Episode 2, More Than This series, Paramount Plus
2022 Judge for Innerwest Council’s Young Creatives Writing Competition
2022 Delivered workshop to St. Augustine’s College Writer’s Retreat
2022 – Present Creative development of The Coconut Children for Belvoir Theatre.
2023 – 2024 Storyteller at Story Factory, designing and facilitating term-long creative writing programs in Western Sydney primary and high schools.
2023 Artwork/poem Vietnamese Beauty tips for MÌNH, a Fairfield City Museum & Gallery exhibition exploring Vietnamese and Chinese diasporic life in Australia today. Artwork entitled Vietnamese Beauty Tips.
2023 – Poetry reading at Sappho Books and Poetry Sydney’s LOVEGRUNGEPEACHES
2023 – Mentor for WestWords-Varuna Emerging Writers’ Residency
2023 – National Youth Poetry Slam Judge.
2024 – Present Creative consultant for See-saw Films.
2024 – Present Course Director and Key Tutor of Faber Academy’s Writing a Novel Online course. Presented by Allen & Unwin, in partnership with UK publishers Faber & Faber.
2024 – Present Workshop facilitator at School of Zines, a space for zine-making & self-publishing workshops that aim to empower creativity and foster community connections in Western Sydney.
2024 – Present Writer at See-Saw Films.

Press

2020 Catching Fire: Vivian Pham in Conversation with Vi Khi Nao, DVAN
2020, Inspired by her father's escape, teenage debut novelist Vivian Pham is set to become a voice of her generation, Good Weekend
2020 Vivian Pham on western Sydney, fan-fiction and The Coconut Children: ‘I hope it’s universal’, The Guardian
2020 'I wanted every sentence to be quote worthy': debut novelist Vivian Pham, Sydney Morning Herald
2020 5 Questions with Vivian Pham, LIMINAL
2023 Spotlight on Vivian Pham, Writing NSW

Fellowships

2020 WestWords Emerging Writers’ Fellowship.
2023 WestWords-Varuna National Writers’ House Emerging Writers Fellowship.
2023 DVAN-Millay New Author Fellowship
2024-2025 Think+DO Tank Foundation Writer-in-Residence

Education

Bachelor of Arts (Distinction)
Western Sydney University (2019-2023)
Recipient of the Academic Excellence Scholarship and member of Global Leaders Program.
2019 Dean’s Merit List.
Major in Creative Writing and Philosophy