Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem and her conversations with the teenagers who've studied it

Alice Pung started writing her first published book as a teenager. Now, it's been read and studied by two generations of Australian teenagers through the school curriculum. On the 20th anniversary of her irreverent, loving memoir of her migrant family's 's everyday struggles and bittersweet triumphs, she reflects on the book's endurance and the various reactions it's provoked in her young readers.

The 2026 EW Cole Lecture was recorded by The Wheeler Centre Australia's first dedicated centre for Books, Writing and Ideas. Explore more discussions like this one on The Wheeler Centre podcast — available wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow @wheelercentre for updates

Speakers:

Alice PungAuthor, Unpolished Gem, Her Father's Daughter, Laurinda, One Hundred Days, Growing Up Asian in Australia (editor) and more

Raina Tran15 year-old writer

Marina SanoCo-creator and owner of Amplify Bookstore