What is the title of your latest release?
BORING ASIAN FEMALE
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A satirical thriller about a Columbia University senior who gets rejected by all the law schools she applies to, and becomes obsessed with another girl her year who gets into her dream school (Harvard).
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I started writing the novel a couple years after graduating Columbia when I started to realize that the things that felt so high-stakes to me as a college student actually mattered very little in “real” life. Now that I had exited the fog, I wanted to capture the feeling of being a college student in this pressure cooker environment, and what happens when you fully buy into the notion of external achievement at any cost.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Umm…. no.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Unhinged, ambitious, analytical
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
It’s relatively easy to write a completely sociopathic character whose crazy decisions can all be explained by her sociopathy. It’s much harder (and more interesting, in my opinion) to write a character whose actions have to make sense to a non-sociopathic person. I enjoyed pushing myself to make Elizabeth seem as relatable as possible, despite all of her extremely unhinged decisions.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
A combination of both. I try to follow my mood. Now that I’m working on my second novel, I’m realizing there’s not really a set process that works best for me every time. I tried to write a full draft but about of the two-thirds of the way in, I felt super blocked and discouraged, and going back and editing was the reset I needed to keep the creative juices flowing.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
McDonald’s deluxe quarter pounder with cheese, french fries, and a Coke Zero
Describe your writing space/office!
I write on my kitchen island. The highlight of my setup is my split mechanical keyboard. It’s literally a keyboard broken into two halves: left and right. It’s supposed to be good for your posture because it lets you spread out your arms. I’ve also custom programmed the keys to maximize efficiency. For instance, one key is “copy” and another is “paste.” I can hold “i” to italicize and “u” to underline.
Who is an author you admire?
Jennifer Egan.
Is there a book that changed your life?
WRITERS & LOVERS by Lily King. I read it after I had just gotten the advice to never use adverbs in writing. But then I noticed that there are plenty of adverbs in WRITERS & LOVERS, yet it was one of my favorite books I’d ever read! It made me completely rethink all the writing advice I’d ever gotten.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I had literally just gotten out of the shower and got a call from Olivia Maidment, another agent at MMA who was covering for my agent Rachel since she was getting married that week. I was still wrapped in a towel when she told me the news.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Literary fiction with propulsive plot and low-to-medium stakes. Ideally about a young woman and with coming-of-age themes. THE RACHEL INCIDENT, MARGO'S GOT MONEY TROUBLES, THE FLAMETHROWERS are some examples that come to mind.
What’s your favorite movie?
Okay, I really can’t pick just one. My top three are The Big Short, Pride & Prejudice (2005), and The Devil Wears Prada.
What is your favorite season?
Spring
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Dinner with friends or skiing (or ideally, a combination of both!)
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I just read THE LAND IN WINTER by Andrew Miller for my book club. It’s one of those books that benefits from being read slowly. I wish I could say more but I am still processing its impact on me. I just know that I loved it and savored every page.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Indian
What do you do when you have free time?
I do a lot of yoga, mostly vinyasa. I also enjoy skiing and going to the movies.
What can readers expect from you next?
I’m working on a novel about a classical pianist who also happens to be a serial killer! Stay tuned!
Well, in that case, she’ll have to show them just how interesting she can be.
Elizabeth Zhang is well aware of her place in the world. She’s in the tenth percentile for likability, the seventieth percentile for attractiveness, and the ninety-ninth percentile for academics. While she’s never been the most beautiful or the most liked, she knows she has the intelligence and ambition to achieve her greatest dream: Harvard Law School. But when Harvard rejects Elizabeth for not standing out enough—which she knows means she's just another boring Asian female—her carefully constructed life falls apart. What shocks her even more is that Laura Kim, a classmate at Columbia, got in. Elizabeth can’t figure out how this could have happened. Why was Laura accepted? What makes her so interesting?
At first, she follows her because she’s just curious. What Laura orders for lunch. Where Laura shops. What Laura’s hobbies are. All of these things must contribute to her overall package, what makes her an acceptable person to Harvard. But still, Elizabeth just can’t see it. The only thing she sees is that Laura has taken her spot.
A spot that she knows she deserves after working so hard. A spot that she’ll simply have to take back.
Layered and subversive, this novel brings to light how, in the face of societal expectations and self-inflicted pressures, a person can unlock the darkest parts of themselves and show how far they’re willing to go to achieve their vision of success.
Thriller Psychological [ Penguin, On Sale: April 28, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593954584 / eISBN: 9780593954591 ]
Canwen is the author of the forthcoming novel Boring Asian Female, set to be published in April 2026. She began working on the story in the spring of 2022, inspired by the idea of a Columbia senior who faces a devastating rejection that forces her to question everything she believes about herself. While parts of the novel draw from real experiences, much of it is imagined—shaped over four years, twenty-five drafts, and even a complete genre transformation.
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