Annabelle Tometich went from medical-school reject to line cook to journalist to author. She spent 18 years as a food writer and restaurant critic for The News-Press in her hometown of Fort Myers, Florida. Her first book, “The Mango Tree: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida, and Felony” (Little, Brown; April 2024) was called “sweet, sharp” by The New York Times, and was named among the best books of 2024 by The Washington Post and NPR. 

Tometich has written for The Washington Post, USA Today, Catapult, and many more outlets. In 2025, she became the first Asian American author to win the Southern Book Prize for nonfiction, in addition to the dozen-plus other awards her work has garnered. Tometich (still) lives in Fort Myers with her husband, two children, and her ever-fiery Filipina mother.

Her literary work is represented by Kayla Lightner at Ayesha Pande Literary.