About
Esther’s Bio
Hailing from the American South, Esther Lee is the author of the chapbook, Blank Missives (Trafficker Press) and two poetry collections, Spit (Elixir Press), and Sacrificial Metal (Conduit Books & Ephemera), which garnered three Pushcart Prize nominations. Currently, she is developing a memoir about intergenerational trauma and the surprising intersections of Korean, American, and Portuguese cultures. She recently collaborated on a children’s book titled, Jimmy and Jada Notice, about multiracial identity with the Chicago-based artist Kayce Bayer.
Her writing and collaborations with visual artists have appeared in multiple literary magazines and anthologies, including Ploughshares, Swamp Pink (formerly Crazyhorse), The Normal School, and elsewhere. She has received awards and residencies from the Fine Arts Work Center, Disquiet, Vermont Studio Center, Djerassi, and others.
She earned her M.F.A. from Indiana University and Ph.D. from the University of Utah. She has over ten years of experience teaching creative writing and literature in higher education and for non-profits, including Emory University, Agnes Scott College, and Johns Hopkins University, to name a few.
As of 2022, she lives in the Azores with her husband and photographer, Michael Marcinek.
