Krys Lee is a South Korean writer, 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, and ...

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

. 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. Recipients must be American citizens. Prizes have been aw ...

, the

Story Prize Spotlight Award The Story Prize is an annual book award established in 2004 that honors the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. Each of two runners-up receives $5,000. Eligible books must be written in English and first ...

, 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 __NOTOC__ The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize is an annual award presented by the Center for Fiction, a non-profit organization in New York City, for the best debut novel. From 2006 to 2011, it was called the John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Priz ...

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, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, her MA in English Literature from

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, 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 required course of study, work an on-campus j ...

. 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 make ...

'', ''

The Kenyon Review ''The Kenyon Review'' is a literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, 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. ''T ...

'', ''

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

'', ''

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 M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', ''

Corriere della Sera (; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...

,'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

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

Viking Vikings were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

. 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

Source: *

(2012) * BBC International Short Story Award, Short List (2012) *

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 ...

, special mention (2012) *

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

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 of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

fellowship in literature (2014) *

, 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 Writers from Seoul Warren Wilson College alumni 21st-century South Korean women writers 21st-century South Korean writers