Mellissa Fung is a veteran journalist, author and award-winning filmmaker. She has produced original award-winning documentaries for Al-Jazeera International, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and TV Ontario, among others.

She covered the war in Afghanistan, leading to her bestselling first book, UNDER AN AFGHAN SKY, which chronicled her experience as a hostage after she was kidnapped while on assignment in Kabul in 2008. Since then, Fung has focused on human rights reporting, with a focus on women and children in conflict. She is a frequent contributor to The Globe and Mail, and her work also has appeared in The Huffington Post and The Toronto Star, and on PBS.

She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York. She was appointed as an officer to the Order of Canada in 2024 for her work with women in conflict. She lives in Toronto with her husband, Paul, and her scruffy rescue dog, Sammy.

Books by Mellissa Fung

The Last Mandarin

by Louise Penny and Mellissa Fung - Fiction, Political Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Alice Li, a first-generation Chinese American and former food blogger, has long lived in the shadow of her mother, Vivien Li --- a Tiananmen Square dissident turned world-renowned human rights activist and passionate advocate for a free and democratic China. When security and fire alarms go off simultaneously all around the world, setting off a panic, the signal is traced back to China. As world leaders scramble to respond, Vivien and Alice are called to the White House in hopes that Madame Li can interpret the Chinese intentions. But why involve Alice? If China isn’t behind the attack, Vivien warns, someone even more dangerous is pulling the strings. Mother and daughter must join together to overcome their estrangement if they have any hope of preventing global catastrophe.