25 Mar 2023

Chloe Gong: #BookTok and the remarkable rise of a writer

From Saturday Morning, 10:05 am on 25 March 2023

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Author Chloe Gong

Chloe Gong Photo: Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand

Those not familiar with TikTok might not have heard of #BookTok, but, gathering 196,000 followers and 10 million likes, its been an important part of Chloe Gong’s journey to becoming a New York Times bestselling author.

Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, Gong is now based in New York. A 2021 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in English and International Relations, she began writing books on an iPad aged 13. 

Her debut novel, These Violent Delights, won her the Best Youth Novel at the 2021 Sir Julius Vogel Awards. Her latest, Foul Lady Fortune is the first of two novellas. In July the first instalment in an adult fantasy trilogy, Immortal Longings, will be released..

Gong will be returning to New Zealand, appearing at Auckland Writers Festival, in May.