Angela Hui

Hui was born 1991 in Beddau,^[1] a Welsh former mining village next to Pontypridd, to a father from Sai Kung and a mother from Shenzhen.^[2] Her parents had left Hong Kong for Britain in 1985, working at Chinese takeaways in Bournemouth, Reading, and London^[3] before settling in Beddau, where they opened their own takeaway called Lucky Star in 1988. It operated out of a converted terrace house on Commercial Street, and Hui lived above the shop with her two older brothers and helped out from the age of 8.^[4] Their relatives also opened takeaways in Pontlottyn, Bargoed and Blackwood.^[5]

Hui graduated from the University of Glamorgan in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Journalism. She won a scholarship to pursue a Master of Arts (MA) in Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. During her time at Cardiff, she was part of the magazine Feast.^[6]

In 2020, Hui joined HuffPost UK as a lifestyle reporter, writing about food, travel, and other topics.^[7] In 2021, Hui became a food and drink editor at Time Out London.^[8] She also contributed to the likes of Eater London, Vice, The Independent, and gal-dem.^[9]

In 2022, Trapeze (an Orion Publishing Group imprint) acquired the rights to publish Hui's debut book and memoir Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood Behind the Counter,^[10] delving into Hui's experiences, positive, negative and bittersweet,^[11] growing up in a Chinese takeaway in rural Wales, which her parents sold in 2018.^[12] Hui had written the memoir during the COVID-19 lockdown, and said the rise in anti-East Asian racism at the time was a motivating factor.^[13] Georgina Leung provided the illustrations.^[14] The book also incorporates Cantonese recipes.^[15][16] Takeaway was shortlisted for the 2023 Jhalak Prize and a Fortnum & Mason Award in the Debut Food Book category.^[17][18]

• Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood Behind the Counter (2022). ISBN 978-1-3987-0555-5.