Eva Wong

Shelley Parker-Chan is a non-binary Australian author renowned for their fantasy novel "She Who Became the Sun" and its sequel, "He Who Drowned the World," which together form "The Radiant Emperor Duology." Born in New Zealand to a Malaysian-Chinese mother and a white father, Parker-Chan was raised in Australia. They experienced a sense of displacement regarding their racial identity and observed a lack of authentic Asian representation in media. This perspective shifted when they moved to Asia as a young adult and encountered diverse Asian characters in dramas, realizing the breadth of possible roles. Parker-Chan pursued higher education in war crimes and restorative justice, and worked internationally as a diplomat and development advisor focused on gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights before turning to writing. Their literary journey began with fan fiction and a desire to improve queer representation. "She Who Became the Sun" achieved significant success upon its 2021 release, becoming a bestseller and receiving multiple awards. Parker-Chan, who uses they/them pronouns and identifies as queer and genderqueer, currently resides in Melbourne, Australia, with their spouse and child.

Born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, Shelley Parker-Chan grappled with their identity, feeling disconnected from their Malaysian-Chinese heritage and the limited portrayals of Asian characters in popular culture. Growing up in a household that emphasized academic achievement, they felt a divergence between their upbringing and how they were perceived racially. A pivotal shift occurred in young adulthood when Parker-Chan moved to Asia. There, exposure to Asian dramas revealed a vast spectrum of character archetypes, from heroes and villains to scholars and warriors, expanding their understanding of Asian representation and identity. This experience, coupled with a desire for more inclusive storytelling, particularly for queer individuals, fueled their transition into writing.

Before embarking on a writing career, Parker-Chan pursued academic interests in war crimes and restorative justice. They also served as a diplomat for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Timor-Leste and worked as an international development advisor in Indonesia, focusing on gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. This diverse background informed their creative work. Parker-Chan's interest in writing originated from romantic fan fiction and a commitment to enhancing queer representation in literature. Their debut novel, "She Who Became the Sun," published in 2021, achieved considerable acclaim, becoming a bestseller and earning several awards. The sequel, "He Who Drowned the World," published in 2023, concluded the duology.

“I was raised very much by a tiger parent in a part of Adelaide with a large Chinese, Malaysian and Southeast Asian Chinese population. I was a scholarship kid and I went to a posh private school where my peers were all the offspring of doctors and lawyers, and I was pushed to also become a doctor or lawyer and achieve high results. So I feel I grew up in a very classically second- generation middle-class Asian way, but I was definitely not perceived as Asian.”

“Asians could be any and every kind of character: the heroes, the villains, the love interests, warriors, scholars.”