B. 1970

Nancy Lee was born in Cardiff, Wales, to parents of Chinese and Indian descent and grew up in Peterborough, England, and Vancouver, British Columbia. She is the author of the poetry collection What Hurts Going Down (2020); the novel The Age (2014); and the critically acclaimed short story collection Dead Girls (2002), winner of the 2003 VanCity Book Prize. In a review for the Toronto Star, Barbara Carey describes What Hurts Going Down as “an intimate exploration of what it is to be female, starting in childhood and ending in old age.” She continues, “Lee probes the assumptions about sexuality and women’s nature shaped by pop culture and social messaging, and she doesn’t hold back.

Lee’s many honors include a Gabriel Award for Radio and a National Magazine Award. She is an assistant professor in the University of British Columbia Creative Writing Program, and she lives in Steveston, British Columbia, with her husband, the author John Vigna.