Allison

King

Debut Novelist

Reese’s Book Club Fellow

Travels from: Boston, MA

“Software engineer King demonstrates a compelling voice in both literary historical fiction and technological stories with her first novel. . . . King unifies complex topics into a gripping narrative, exploring tensions amid memory, privacy, history, and technology.” — Library Journal

Allison King is an Asian American writer and software engineer. Her debut novel, The Phoenix Pencil Company, about a granddaughter discovering the magic behind her grandmother’s pencil company in 1940s Shanghai, was published in 2025 and was a Reese’s Book Club pick.

In technology, her work has ranged from semiconductors to platforms for community conversations to data privacy. Her short stories have appeared in Fantasy Magazine, Diabolical Plots, and LeVar Burton Reads, among others.

Her writing explores the intersection between technology, magic, and family.

Allison's Featured Titles

The Phoenix Pencil Company/Writing from family history

Book talk about the the spark for The Phoenix Pencil Company, which involved first researching 1940s Shanghai, then incorporating bits of family history. I’ll talk about the balance and internal crises of writing from family history and what worked for me when delving into sensitive topics.

Pens, pencils, diaspora

A fun talk featuring the pens and pencils I grew up with, as well as the trips back to Taiwan to spend hours in stationery stores, and what they meant to me as part of the diaspora. Can also bring these pens and pencils for attendees to try out!

Writing Technology

As a software engineer and a writer, I’m often asked how I balance the two, or how one influences the other. This talk can either be about the similarities/differences in writing and software engineering (editing vs code review, managing plot threads vs managing processing threads) or more of a craft talk for how to incorporate modern day technology in writing in a way that also explores tech ethics.

“Remarkable. . . Part speculative, part multigenerational family epic, part historical record, part coming-of-age romance, it is, like the mythical titular phoenix, all magic. . . .King radiantly explores memory, storytelling, archiving, history, and the subjective unreliability of all that we think we know.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Allison King didn’t write a sad story about loss or grief, not really. “The Many Taste Grooves of the Chang Family” is about what makes a memory worth remembering and how to find peace when the end is anything but peaceful.” — Alex Brown, Reactor

Allison’s Short Stories

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Reese’s Book Club pick

Media clips

Reese’s Book Club | The Phoenix Pencil Company

People | Reese Witherspoon’s LitUp Program Helps Underrepresented Writers. One of Its Participants Is Now a Reese’s Book Club Pick (Exclusive)

Booklist | The Phoenix Pencil Company

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.