Krys Lee is a Korean-American author based in South Korea, a journalist, and translator. She wrote the short story collection ''Drifting House'' (2012) and the novel ''How I Became a North Korean'' (2016). She is an associate professor of creative writing and literature at

Underwood International College Underwood International College, Yonsei University was founded in 2006 as a constituent college of Yonsei University. Based in Seoul and Incheon, South Korea. The college is the first and only liberal arts college in the Republic of Korea, a ...

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the " SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in th ...

. She was awarded the

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Prizes have been awarded annually since 1921, with a hiatus ...

, the Story Prize Spotlight Award, and the Honor Title in Adult Fiction Literature from the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, and was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the BBC International Story Prize.

Personal life

Lee was born in South Korea, was raised and educated in California and Washington, then the United Kingdom, and now lives in Seoul. She received her BA in English Literature from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, her MA in English Literature from University of York, and her MFA in creative writing from

Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campu ...

. Her work has been published on ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

'', ''

The Kenyon Review ''The Kenyon Review'' is a literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, US, home of Kenyon College. ''The Review'' was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959. ' ...

'', ''

Narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc. ...

'', ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'', '' Corriere della Sera,'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. In 2012, Lee published her debut collection of short stories, ''Drifting House'', from

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase ...

. In 2016 she published her novel ''How I Became a North Korean'', also from Viking, Penguin Random House. Lee is also the translator of ''I Hear Your Voice'' (

Mariner Books Mariner Books, originally an imprint of HMH Books, was established in 1997 as a publisher of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry in trade paperback. Mariner is also the publisher of the Harvest backlist, formerly published by Harcourt Brace/Harcou ...

, 2017) and ''Diary of a Murderer: And Other Stories'' ( Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt, 2019) by Young-ha Kim.

Awards and fellowships

* Story Prize Spotlight Award (2012) * BBC International Short Story Award, Short List (2012) * Pushcart Prize, special mention (2012) * iTunes Book of the Month selection (2012) * Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, Honor Title in Adult Fiction Literature (2012) *

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

fellowship in literature (2014) * Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, finalist

Works

* ''Drifting House'' (

, 2012) * ''How I Became North Korean'' (

, 2016) * ''I Hear Your Voice'' (

, 2017), translator * ''Diary of a Murderer: And Other Stories'' ( Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt, 2019), translator

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Krys Created via preloaddraft Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of the University of York People from Seoul Warren Wilson College alumni 21st-century South Korean women writers 21st-century South Korean writers