Lee Lai

Last updated

Lee Lai (born 1993) [1] is a transgender, [2] Asian-Australian cartoonist who presently lives in Canada. In 2021, the National Book Foundation named her an honoree of their 5 Under 35 award for her debut graphic novel, Stone Fruit . [1] The following year, Stone Fruit was a finalist for the Barbara Gittings Literature Award, [3] Lambda Literary Award for Graphic Novel/Comics, [4] [5] and Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics, [6] among other awards.

Contents

Biography

Lai was born in 1993 in Melbourne [1] and has a sister, with whom she is close. [7] She presently lives in Montreal. [1]

Lai became interested in comics because of mild dyslexia, which made reading traditional novels difficult. [2] Her short story comics have been published in The New Yorker, The Lifted Brow, Room Magazine, and Everyday Feminism. [1]

Lai is transgender [2] and homosexual. [7]

Awards and honours

YearTitleAwardResultRef.
2020Heartwood Prism Award for Anthology Winner [8]
2021 Stone Fruit American Library Association's Best Graphic Novels for AdultsTop 10 [9]
National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35" AwardHonoree [1]
2022 Barbara Gittings Literature Award Honor [3]
Cartoonist Studio PrizeWinner [10]
Doug Wright Award for Best BookFinalist [11]
Lambda Literary Award for Graphic Novel/Comics Finalist [4] [5]
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics Finalist [6]
American Library Association's Over the Rainbow Book ListTop 10 [12]
Stella Prize Shortlist [13]

Publications

Contributions

Illustrations

Related Research Articles

<i>Stone Fruit</i> 2021 graphic novel by Lee Lai

Stone Fruit is a graphic novel by Lee Lai, published May 11, 2021 by Fantagraphics.

Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the United States-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works that celebrate or explore LGBT themes. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the official year of the award; the presentation ceremony is held a year later. The Lambda Literary Foundation states that its mission is "to celebrate LGBT literature and provide resources for writers, readers, booksellers, publishers, and librarians - the whole literary community."

Jeanne Thornton is an American writer and copublisher of Instar Books and Rocksalt Magazine. She has received the Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers. Anthologies to which she has contributed to have won a Lambda Literary Award and a Barbara Gittings Literature Award. Works she has written and edited have been finalists for Lambda Literary Awards for Debut Fiction, Transgender Fiction, and Graphic Novel. Her 2021 novel Summer Fun is a one-sided epistolary novel consisting of letters from a transgender woman in New Mexico to a fictional musician based on Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys; it won the 2022 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction.

The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a work of fiction on gay male themes. As the award is presented based on themes in the work, not the sexuality or gender of the writer, women and heterosexual men may also be nominated for or win the award.

The Lambda Literary Award for Drama is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to an LGBT-related literary or theatrical work. Most nominees are plays, or anthologies of plays; however, non-fiction works on theatre or drama have also sometimes been nominated for the award.

Casey Plett is a Canadian writer, best known for her novel Little Fish, her Lambda Literary Award winning short story collection, A Safe Girl to Love, and her Giller Prize-nominated short story collection, A Dream of a Woman. Plett is a transgender woman, and she often centers this experience in her writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Luce</span> American cartoonist

Ed Luce is an American cartoonist, best known for his indie comics series Wuvable Oaf. The series focuses on Oaf Jadwiga, a bearish gay ex-wrestler looking for love. Originally funded by a grant from Prism Comics, it was self-published in five standalone chapters until being compiled in graphic novel form by Fantagraphics Books in 2015.

SJ Sindu is a genderqueer Sri Lankan American novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, Marriage of a Thousand Lies, was released by Soho Press in June 2017, won the Publishing Triangle Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, and was named an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book. Her second novel, Blue-Skinned Gods, was released on November 17, 2021, also by Soho Press. Her second chapbook Dominant Genes, which won the 2020 Black River Chapbook Competition, was released in February 2022 by Black Lawrence Press. Her middle-grade fantasy graphic novel, Shakti, was published in 2023 by HarperCollins. Her work has been published in Brevity, The Normal School, The Los Angeles Review of Books, apt, Vinyl Poetry, PRISM International, VIDA, Black Girl Dangerous, rkvry quarterly, and elsewhere. Sindu was a 2013 Lambda Literary Fellow, holds an MA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a PhD in Creative Writing from Florida State University. She currently teaches Creative Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Whitehead</span> Two spirit poet and novelist

Joshua Whitehead is a Canadian First Nations, two spirit poet and novelist.

The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a gay-themed book of poetry by a male writer.

The Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a lesbian-themed book of poetry by a female writer. At the first two Lambda Literary Awards in 1989 and 1990, a single award for LGBT Poetry, irrespective of gender, was presented. Beginning with the 3rd Lambda Literary Awards in 1991, the poetry award was split into two separate awards for Lesbian Poetry and Gay Poetry, which have been presented continuously since then except at the 20th Lambda Literary Awards in 2008, when a merged LGBTQ poetry award was again presented for that year only.

The Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works that celebrate or explore LGBT themes. The organization is considered to be one of the main promoters of new and emerging LGBT writers.

Zeyn Joukhadar is a Syrian American writer. Joukhadar is the recipient of the 2021 Stonewall Book Awards and the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction for The Thirty Names of Night.

The Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Graphic Novel is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, to a graphic novel with LGBT themes. As the award is presented based on themes in the work, not the sexuality or gender of the writer, non-LGBT individuals may be nominated for or win the award.

The Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Literature is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, that awards books with bisexual content. The award can be separated into three categories: bisexual fiction, bisexual nonfiction, and bisexual poetry. Awards are granted based on literary merit and bisexual content, and therefore, the writer may be homo-, hetero-, or asexual.

The Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, that awards books with transgender content. Awards are granted based on literary merit and transgender content, and therefore, the writer may be cisgender. The award can be separated into three categories: transgender fiction, transgender nonfiction, and transgender poetry, though early iterations of the award included categories for bisexual/transgender literature, transgender/genderqueer literature, and transgender literature.

The Lambda Literary Award for Mystery is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, to a mystery novel by or about people in the LGBT community. Prior to 2021, the award was separated into separate categories for Gay and Lesbian Mystery.

The Lambda Literary Award for Erotica is an annual literary award established in 2002 and presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation that awards books with LGBT characters and "whose content is principally of an erotic nature." "Anthologies, novels, novellas, graphic novels, memoirs, and short story collections" are eligible for the award.

The Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics, established in 2009, is a category of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Works are eligible during the year of their first US publication in English, though they may be written originally in languages other than English.

<i>Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms</i> 2021 graphic novel by Crystal Frasier

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms, sometimes stylized as Cheer Up!, is a young adult graphic novel written by Crystal Frasier, with art by Val Wise and lettering by Oscar Jupiter. Published on August 10, 2021, by Oni Press, it tells the story of two queer high school girls, Beatrice – who is transgender – and Annie, as they try and become cheerleaders.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Lee Lai". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  2. 1 2 3 MacDonald, Heidi (2021-05-18). "Honest and Emotional: Lee Lai's Graphic Novel Debut". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  3. 1 2 Chapman, Monica (2022-02-01). "2022 Barbara Gittings Literature Award and Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award of the Stonewall Book Awards announced". American Library Association. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  4. 1 2 Gaynor, Jessie (2022-03-16). "Here are the finalists for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  5. 1 2 Lewis, LeKesha (2022-03-15). "2022 Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  6. 1 2 "L.A Times Book Prizes 2022". Festival of Books. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  7. 1 2 Favreau, Alyssa (2021-09-01). "'No Villains, Only Messes': An Interview with Lee Lai". Hazlitt. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  8. "The Prism Awards for Excellence in LGBTQ+ Comics". Prism Comics. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  9. "2021 Best Graphic Novels for Adults Reading List". American Library Association. 2022-01-23. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  10. "Stone Fruit". Fantagraphics. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  11. Tobias, Conan (2022-05-16). "Announcing the nominees of the 18th annual Doug Wright Awards". Doug Wright Awards. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  12. Chapman, Monica (2022-02-15). "Over the Rainbow Committee announces 2022 Top 10 Book List". American Library Association. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  13. "Announcing the 2022 Stella Prize Shortlist". Stella. 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-06-06.