Jing-Jing Lee (born 1985) is a

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

an author who writes in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

; her best-known work is the novel '' How We Disappeared'' (2019).

Early life and education

Lee was born in

in 1985 and grew up speaking

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

. She was not read to as a child, only discovering books at school. She attended

The Chinese High School The Chinese High School () was an independent school in Singapore offering secondary education. The school merged with Hwa Chong Junior College on 1 January 2005 to form the integrated Hwa Chong Institution. Founded on 21 March 1919, The Chin ...

and then went to the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

, where she studied

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

and business before dropping out. She later completed a MSt in creative writing at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in England.

Career

Lee published a book of short stories, ''If I Could Tell You'', in 2013, and a poetry collection ''And Other Rivers'' in 2015. Her debut novel, ''How We Disappeared'', was published in 2019 and was longlisted for the

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

; it was included in the

Big Jubilee Read The Big Jubilee Read is a 2022 campaign to promote reading for pleasure and to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. A list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, 10 from each decade of Elizabeth II's reign, was selected by a panel of e ...

, a list of 70 novels by

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

authors created to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Selected publications

Short-story collections

*''If I Could Tell You'' (2013)

Novels

*'' How We Disappeared'' (2019)

Poetry

*''And Other Rivers'' (2015)

Personal life

Lee lives in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

with her husband, Marco, and their son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jing Jing date of birth missing (living people) 1985 births Living people 21st-century novelists 21st-century poets 21st-century short story writers 21st-century Singaporean women writers Alumni of the University of Oxford English-language writers Expatriate writers Expatriates in England Expatriates in the Netherlands Hwa Chong Institution alumni Singaporean expatriates in the United Kingdom Singaporean people of Chinese descent Singaporean women novelists Singaporean women poets Singaporean women short story writers National University of Singapore alumni Writers from Amsterdam