Marie Myung-Ok Lee is a

Korean-American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian Americans ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

. She is a cofounder of the

Asian American Writers' Workshop The Asian American Writers' Workshop (often abbreviated AAWW) is a nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 1991 to support Asian American writers, literature and community. Cofounders Curtis Chin, Christina Chiu, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, and B ...

(AAWW). This organisation was formed in 1991 to support New York City writers of color.

Biography

Lee and her family grew up in

Hibbing, Minnesota Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 census. The city was built on mining the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range and still relies on that industrial activity today. At th ...

, a small and remote mining town.Joyce Hackel, A mundane Thanksgiving can be the ideal holiday gift, https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-11-24/mundane-thanksgiving-can-be-ideal-holiday-gift Her father was a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, and both of her parents fled

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

to the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, eventually moving to Minnesota when her mother secured a

United States visa The visa policy of the United States consists of the requirements for foreign nationals to travel to, enter, and remain in the United States. Visitors to the United States must obtain a travel visa, visa from one of the List of diplomatic missi ...

. In 1986, Lee graduated with an

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

AB degree Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

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 ...

.Encyclopedia.com, Marie G. Lee, https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/lee-marie-g-1964

Novels

Young adult novels

Under the name Marie G. Lee, Lee has also written several

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

novels: '' Finding My Voice'' (1992), ''If It Hadn't Been for Yoon Jun'' (1993), ''Saying Goodbye'' (1994), '' Necessary Roughness'' (1996), and ''F is for Fabuloso'' (1999). ''Finding My Voice'' is generally considered to be the "first teen novel released by a major publisher with a contemporary Asian American protagonist by an Asian American author" and tells the story of high school senior Ellen Sung as she deals with racism as belonging to the only Korean American (or family of color for that matter) in town. In late 2020 and early 2021, ''Finding My Voice'' was reissued by

Soho Teen Soho Press is a New York City-based publisher founded by Juris Jurjevics and Laura Hruska in 1986 and currently headed by Bronwen Hruska. It specializes in literary fiction and international crime series. Other works include published by it inclu ...

.Book Riot, Community, COVER REVEAL AND EXCERPT: FINDING MY VOICE BY MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE, https://bookriot.com/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-finding-my-voice-by-marie-myung-ok-lee/ For the novel, Lee won a "Best Book for Reluctant Readers" award from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

in 1992. In 1993, ''Finding My Voice'' also earned the Young People's Literature Award from the Friends of American Writers, and was also placed on the 1994 Young Adults' Choices list by the

International Reading Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialo ...

. In 1997, the novel was featured on the

list of "Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults." Lee's novel ''Saving Goodbye'' is a sequel to ''Finding My Voice'', which follows the character of Ellen Jung as she graduates from high school and enters her freshman year at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. ''Necessary Roughness'' is about a Korean-American boy named Chan Kim who moves from Los Angeles to the fictional city of Iron Town, Minnesota, and plays football in order to deal with the racism he faces from his peers and to escape problems he confronts with his parents and the rest of his family.

Other novels

Lee's novel, ''Somebody's Daughter'' (2005), is based on her year as a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, taking oral histories of Korean birth mothers. She has been involved in the

adoptee Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

community for many years, but Lee herself is not adopted. One of her family members is adopted from Korea.Smith, Andy (17 April 2005)
A Korean-American journey: Providence's Marie Myung-Ok Lee writes her first novel for adults
''Providence Journal''(21 February 2005)
Fiction Review: Somebody's Daughter
''Publishers Weekly'' She is also one of fifty journalists who have been granted a visa to North Korea since the Korean War.The Shipman Agency, Marie Mying-ok Lee, https://www.theshipmanagency.com/marie-myongok-lee Lee's most recent novel ''The Evening Hero'' (2021), from

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

, is about the "future of medicine, immigration, and North Korea".

Short stories, essays and accolades

Her stories and essays have been published in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

Witness In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

'', ''

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. ' ...

'', ''

TriQuarterly ''TriQuarterly'' is a name shared by an American literary magazine and a series of books, both operating under the aegis of Northwestern University Press. The journal is published twice a year and features fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, liter ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', ''

Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.The Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University, Marie Myung-Ok Lee http://heymancenter.org/people/marie-myung-ok-lee/ She has received honors for her work including an

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the M ...

honorable mention for an adaptation of a chapter from ''Somebody's Daughter''. Lee was a recipient of the MacColl Johnson literature fellowship and 2010 Fiction Fellowship from the

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

State Council on the Arts. She was also a

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowell ...

, and

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) is a residential artist community in Amherst, Virginia, USA. Since 1971, VCCA has offered residencies of varying lengths with flexible scheduling for international artists, writers, and composers at ...

(VCCA) fellow, and a

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

fiction fellow.

Teaching and personal

Lee has served as a

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

judge as well as a judge for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. She has taught fiction writing at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, was a Visiting Lecturer in

American Studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...

at her '' alma mater''

, and is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University, where she teaches creative writing in the school's Writing Division. She is also a founder and former Board President of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She is married to Karl Jacoby (also a

1987 graduate),Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Never Question?, Brown Alumni Magazine, https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2017-11-03/never-question an environmental historian at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and lives in New York City.

Bibliography

*'' Finding My Voice'', 1992 * ''If It Hadn't Been for Yoon Jun'', 1993 * ''Saying Goodbye'', 1994 * '' Necessary Roughness'', 1996 * ''F is for Fabuloso'', 1999 * ''Somebody's Daughter'', 2005 *''The Evening Hero'', 2021

References

External links

* * Citation for Marie Lee's current position at Brown University

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Marie 1964 births Living people People from Hibbing, Minnesota American writers of Korean descent Brown University faculty American women novelists American essayists American women essayists American women academics 21st-century American women