Karen An-hwei Lee (born 1973) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Life

Born in 1973, and raised in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, Lee is a

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

poet, translator, and critic. She earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

and a Ph.D. in literature from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. A former resident writing fellow at the MacDowell Colony for the Arts in

Peterborough, New Hampshire Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,418 at the 2020 census. The main village, with 3,090 people at the 2020 census, is defined as the Peterborough census-designated place (CDP) and ...

and the

Millay Colony for the Arts Millay Arts, formerly the Millay Colony for the Arts, is an arts community offering residency-retreats and workshops in Austerlitz, New York, and free arts programs in local public schools. Housed on the former property of feminist/activist poet ...

in Austerlitz, New York, Lee resided in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

. She became vice provost for

Point Loma Nazarene University Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) is a private Christian liberal arts college with its main campus on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California, United States. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene. ...

in 2016. In 2020, she became provost for

Wheaton College Wheaton College may refer to: * Wheaton College (Illinois), a private Christian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois * Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Wheaton College is a private liberal arts college in Norton, Massachus ...

. Her first poetry book, ''In Medias Res: a primer of experience in approximate alphabetical order,'' was selected by poet Heather McHugh and published by

Sarabande Books Sarabande Books is an American not-for-profit literary press founded in 1994. It is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, with an office in New York City. Sarabande publishes contemporary poetry and nonfiction. Sarabande is a literary press whos ...

in 2004. Lee received six

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

nominations, a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Grant, the Poetry Society of America's Norma Farber First Book Award, the Kathryn A. Morton Prize for Poetry from Sarabande Books, and the July Open sponsored by

Tupelo Press Tupelo Press is an American not-for-profit literary press founded in 1999. It produced its first titles in 2001, publishing poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Originally located in Dorset, Vermont, the press has since moved to North Adams, Massachus ...

. Her poetry and fiction has appeared in ''

Greensboro Review ''The Greensboro Review'', founded in 1966, is one of the nation's oldest literary magazines, based at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Greensboro, North Carolina. It publishes fiction and poetry on a semi-annual basis. Work f ...

'', '' Prairie Schooner'', ''Columbia Poetry Review'', and a number of other publications. She is the author of a chapbook, ''God's One Hundred Promises'' (Swan Scythe Press, 2002), and additional full-length poetry collections, including ''Ardor'' (Tupelo Press, 2008) and ''Phyla of Joy: Poems'' (Tupelo Press, 2012). In 2017, Ellipsis Press published her first novella, ''Sonata in K.''

Awards

* 2019 ''Big Other'' Book Award for Fiction * 2005 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Grant * 2004 Poetry Society of America's Norma Farber First Book Award. * 2004 Kathryn A. Morton Prize for Poetry, Sarabande Books * 2002 Swan Scythe Press Prize * Eisner Prize, University of California, Berkeley * Yoshiko Uchida Foundation Fellowship * Beinecke Foundation Fellowship * John Hawkes Prize, Brown University

Works

* * *

Poetry books

* * * * *

Nonfiction books

References

External links

"VG:Interview", Bryan Thao Worra, ''Asian American Press''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Karen An-Hwei 1973 births Living people Brown University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni American women poets 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers Place of birth missing (living people)