Li-Young Lee was born in 1957 in Jakarta, Indonesia, of Chinese
parents. In 1959 his father, after spending a year as a political
prisoner in President Sukarno's jails, fled Indonesia with
his family. Between 1959 and 1964 the Lee family traveled
throughout Hong Kong, Macau and Japan, until arriving in
America.
Li-Young Lee's first
poetry collection, Rose, won the New York University's
1986 Delmore Schwartz Memorial Poetry Award. His second collection,
The City In Which I Love You, was the 1990 Lamont Poetry
Selection of the Academy of American Poets. His third collection,
Book of My Nights, was awarded the 2002 William Carlos
Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America.
In
September 2006, BOA Editions published Breaking the Alabaster
Jar: Conversations with Li-Young Lee, edited by Earl G.
Ingersoll. This book collects the best dozen interviews Li-Young
Lee has granted since the 1986 publication of Rose,
including the 1988 interview with Bill Moyers on his The Power
of the Word series. Breaking the Alabaster Jar contains
new insights on Li-Young Lee's aesthetics, history, and various
philosophies. Breaking the Alabaster Jar is an invaluable
companion to Li-Young Lee's previous award-winning poetry collections.
Li-Young
Lee currently lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife Donna
and their two children.
For readings, contact
Alison Granucci at Blue Flower Arts, www.blueflowerarts.com.
BOA books by Li-Young Lee:
Book of My Nights
Rose
The City in Which I Love You
