nicole zhu

I'm a writer and developer based in New York. I read 52 books every year. Sign up for my biweekly writing newsletter, which has been recommended in Poets & Writers and Ann Friedman's Inbox Awards.

Check out past episodes of Sweet and Sour, a podcast I cohosted about the intersections of Asian American identity with culture, work, and lifestyle.

writing

fiction

Jeep Seat, The Margins (Asian American Writers' Workshop)

Linda Liu, Pigeon Pages

  • Winner of the 2022 Pigeon Pages Flash Contest
  • Nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net

@AudreyTCWrites Mentioned You In Their Story, The Lumiere Review

Crazy, Stupid, Tacos, Taco Bell Quarterly

There Is No Human Resources Department at the Candy Cooperative, Catapult

Keeping Tabs, Jellyfish Review

  • Nominated for Best Small Fictions 2020

speaking

Lean in or lie down? Balancing jobs, side projects, and hobbies

April 2019, Flawless Hacks

I gave the keynote at Flawless Hacks about the differences between careers, side projects, and hobbies, why it's increasingly difficult to make these distinctions, and ways to strike a balance in each of these areas and detect burnout when it's avoidable.

The changing magic of media mentorship

December 2017, SRCCON:WORK

David Yee (my then-manager, now mentor) and I gave a talk at SRCCON:WORK about what effective mentorship looks like in an industry whose shape is rapidly and anxiously shifting.

Toward better metaphors: Accessible and inclusive ways to explain technical work

August 2017, SRCCON

I facilitated a session at SRCCON where we brainstormed common topics, concepts, and processes that we thought would benefit from explanation on interdisciplinary teams, then came up with a list of accessible and inclusive metaphors to describe them.

Get yourself a #squad

November 2016, Ela Conf

At the second annual Ela Conf, I talked about the importance of peer mentorship in tech and the positive impact of support and solidarity from those people closest to you.

How to read 52 books in 52 weeks

March 2016, NICAR

One of ten lightning talk proposals accepted and given at the IRE/NICAR Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference, this talk was about my project of reading 52 books in 52 weeks, what I learned, and tips for tackling your own side projects.

readings

Ditmas Lit

September 2022, Hinterlands Bar

The Cosmos Community Reading Series, featured on CBS News

March 2022, Yu & Me Books

Slant'd Issue 02 Launch Party

March 2019, Museum of Chinese in America

honors & support

Shortlist, Epiphany Fresh Voices Fellowship 2024

Sewanee Writers' Conference

Summer 2023, Venita Blackburn

Tin House Winter Workshop

Winter 2023, Alejandro Varela

Kenyon Review Writers Workshop

Summer 2022, Alexandra Kleeman

Aspen Summer Words — Financial aid

Summer 2022, Lan Samantha Chang

Finalist, Kundiman Mentorship Lab 2021

interviews

Obsessed Interview: Spelling Bee, Obsessed

Code as Storytelling, The Bike Shed

Subs and Chill, Write or Die Magazine

get in touch

Send me an email, follow me on Twitter and Instagram, or check out my code on Github.

© 2024 Nicole Zhu