Biography
Lee-Houghton was born in 1982 in Wythenshawe, England. [1] [2] [7]
Lee-Houghton began writing poetry in elementary school. [8] As a child, she was "the victim of horrific sexual abuse" and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. [9] In 1996, at age 14, she had a prolonged hospital stay in a psychiatric ward, during which she began writing letters and poetry. [9] Lee-Houghton has stated, "Writing helped me feel as though I was releasing some of the anguish that I’d been forced to keep to myself." [9] Two years later, Lee-Houghton became pregnant and homeless. [8] In 2002, she was hospitalized for a mixed affective episode and given benzodiazepine, to which she became addicted. [9] During this time, she was unable to keep writing, though she began again during a 2008 hospitalization. [9] The following year, she finished her first book, A Body Made of You, [9] which was published in 2011. Discussing the power of writing poetry for her, Lee-Houghton stated, "Writing poetry, for me, has an intoxicating effect akin to taking a drug - in many ways, it is a short-term, substitutive distraction. But it provides satisfaction, both through the act of creating and the subsequent rewards of earning money and the enthusiastic responses of others." [9]
Her poetry, essays, and short stories have been published in Granta , [10] The White Review , [11] and others. Aside from writing, Lee-Houghton regularly reviews submissions for The Short Review. [12]
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