Tom Lin is a doctoral candidate in Literature at the University of California, Davis. Beginning the Fall of 2024, Tom Lin is assistant professor of English and creative writing at the University of Iowa. His debut novel, THE THOUSAND CRIMES OF MING TSU, reimagines the traditional Western, following a Chinese American assassin in the last days of the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. It won the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was a finalist for the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award and the Northern California Book Reviewers’ Award in Fiction. His scholarly research investigates the role of science fiction and popular culture in the shaping of large technical systems, such as the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile, using a hybrid approach that draws from the intersection of the history of technology and literary studies. His current projects include a new novel, forthcoming in 2026, as well as an exploration of American nuclear tourism.
