Lee Lai
Australian-Canadian writer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lee Lai (born 1993) is a transgender, Asian-Australian cartoonist based in Canada.
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Lee Lai | |
|---|---|
Lai in 2023 | |
| Born | 1993 |
| Notable works | |
In 2021, the National Book Foundation named Lai an honoree of their 5 Under 35 award for her debut graphic novel, Stone Fruit. The following year, Stone Fruit won the Lambda Literary Award for Graphic Novel/Comics, and was a finalist for the Barbara Gittings Literature Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics.
In 2025, Lai released Cannon.
Biography
Lai was born in 1993 in Melbourne[1] and has a sister, with whom she is close.[2] Lai lives in Montreal.[1]
Lai became interested in comics because of mild dyslexia, which made reading traditional novels difficult.[3] Her short story comics have been published in The New Yorker, The Lifted Brow, Room Magazine, and Everyday Feminism.[1]
Lai is transgender[3] and homosexual.[2]
Awards and honours
| Year | Title | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Heartwood | Prism Award for Anthology | Winner | [4] |
| 2021 | Stone Fruit | American Library Association's Best Graphic Novels for Adults | Top 10 | [5] |
| Ignatz Award for Outstanding Artist | Winner | [6] | ||
| Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel | Winner | |||
| National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 Award | Honoree | [1] | ||
| 2022 | Barbara Gittings Literature Award | Honor | [7] | |
| Cartoonist Studio Prize | Winner | [8] | ||
| Doug Wright Award for Best Book | Finalist | [9] | ||
| Lambda Literary Award for Graphic Novel/Comics | Finalist | [10][11] | ||
| Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics | Finalist | [12] | ||
| American Library Association's Over the Rainbow Book List | Top 10 | [13] | ||
| Stella Prize | Shortlist | [14] | ||
| 2026 | Cannon | Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction | Shortlist | [15] |
| Carol Shields Prize for Fiction | Shortlist | [16] | ||
| Stella Prize | Shortlist | [17] |
Publications
- Stone Fruit (2021)
- Cannon (2025)
Contributions
- Heartwood: Non-binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy, edited by Joamette Gil (2019)
- McSweeney's #62: The Queer Fiction Issue, edited by Patrick Cottrell, Dave Eggers (Editor), and Claire Boyle (Editor) (2020)
Illustrations
- A Head-Heart Start For Life: Creative Mindful Discoveries for Young Children, written by Janet Etty-Leal (2019)