Oregon Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 9 (1995) Winner
Chang-Rae Lee
チャン＝レイ・リー
Chang-rae Lee
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1965-07-29 （South Korea）
- Nationality
- American (naturalized)
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Westchester County, New York → Exeter, New Hampshire → New York City → Princeton, New Jersey → Stanford, California
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Professor of creative writing
- Active Years
- 1993-
- Affiliations
- Hunter College (CUNY), Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Oregon
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phillips Exeter Academy | — | — | — | 〜1983 | United States |
| Yale University | — | English | BA | 1983–1987 | United States |
| University of Oregon | — | Writing (MFA program) | MFA | 1991–1993 | United States |
Phillips Exeter Academy
Period:
〜1983
Year of Graduation:
1983
Country:
United States
Preparatory school (high school)
Yale University
English
Degree:
BA
Period:
1983–1987
Year of Graduation:
1987
Country:
United States
Bachelor of Arts in English
University of Oregon
Writing (MFA program)
Degree:
MFA
Period:
1991–1993
Year of Graduation:
1993
Country:
United States
Submitted Native Speaker as MFA thesis
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award | Native Speaker | — | Barnes & Noble | Won |
| 1996 | PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel | Native Speaker | — | Hemingway Foundation / PEN | Won |
| 2000 | Anisfield-Wolf Book Award | A Gesture Life | Fiction | Anisfield-Wolf Foundation | Won |
| 2000 | NAIBA Book of the Year Award | A Gesture Life | — | New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association | Won |
| 2006 | Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Adult Fiction) | Aloft | Fiction | Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature | Won |
| 2011 | Dayton Literary Peace Prize | The Surrendered | — | Dayton Literary Peace Prize | Won |
| 2011 | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction | The Surrendered | Fiction | Pulitzer Prize | Finalist |
| 2017 | John Dos Passos Prize for Literature | — | — | John Dos Passos Prize Committee | Won |
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award
1995
Work:
Native Speaker
Organization:
Barnes & Noble
Result:
Won
PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
1996
Work:
Native Speaker
Organization:
Hemingway Foundation / PEN
Result:
Won
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
2000
Work:
A Gesture Life
Category:
Fiction
Organization:
Anisfield-Wolf Foundation
Result:
Won
NAIBA Book of the Year Award
2000
Work:
A Gesture Life
Organization:
New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association
Result:
Won
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Adult Fiction)
2006
Work:
Aloft
Category:
Fiction
Organization:
Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature
Result:
Won
Dayton Literary Peace Prize
2011
Work:
The Surrendered
Organization:
Dayton Literary Peace Prize
Result:
Won
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2011
Work:
The Surrendered
Category:
Fiction
Organization:
Pulitzer Prize
Result:
Finalist
John Dos Passos Prize for Literature
2017
Organization:
John Dos Passos Prize Committee
Result:
Won
Awards & Nominations
American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 17 (1996) Winner
PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
1 appearances
-
Edition 21 (1996) Winner
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 65 (2000) Winner
Asian American Literary Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 3 (2000) Winner
Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature
1 appearances
-
Edition 0 (2005) Winner
Dayton Literary Peace Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 6 (2011) Winner
John Dos Passos Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 36 (2017) Winner
Works
Major Works
Native Speaker
1994 Novel (immigrant, identity)Debut novel centered on a Korean-American man; explores alienation, betrayal, and the struggle for assimilation.
identityassimilationalienation
A Gesture Life
1999 Novel (memory, historical legacy)Through the reminiscences of an elderly Japanese immigrant, the novel examines assimilation, historical culpability, and memory.
memoryhistorical legacyassimilation
Aloft
2004 Novel (contemporary family drama)Follows an Italian-American protagonist dealing with isolation and the possibility of renewal; Lee's first novel with a non-Asian-American protagonist.
isolationfamilyrenewal
The Surrendered
2010 Novel (war, memory)A multi-generational novel tracing characters affected by the Korean War, dealing with trauma and the inheritance of memory.
memory of wartraumaintergenerational legacy
On Such a Full Sea
2014 Novel (dystopian)Set in a dystopian near-future city, the novel follows a female laborer who undertakes a journey for her community.
dystopiacommunitylabor
My Year Abroad
2021 NovelA novel about a young man's experiences abroad, exploring identity and cultural intersections.
coming-of-agecross-cultural exchangeidentity
Bibliography
- Native Speaker (1994)
- A Gesture Life (1999)
- Aloft (2004)
- The Surrendered (2010)
- On Such a Full Sea (2014)
- My Year Abroad (2021)
Adaptations
- Coming Home Again (film, 2019)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- concise, observational proseemphasis on psychological depth and interiority
- Recurring Motifs
- identitymemoryalienationassimilation and cultural encounter
Legacy
Chang‑Rae Lee holds an important place in Asian-American literature, acclaimed for novels that explore immigrant experience, assimilation, and memory. He has also influenced many writers as an educator.
Quotes
-
You can compare novel-writing to spelunking. There are so many points where you think, absolutely, I'm going down the wrong hole here. And I can't get back to the right hole.
Source: The Atlantic (interview) (2011)
Trivia
- Immigrated to the United States with his family at age 3.
- After earning a BA at Yale, he worked as an equities analyst on Wall Street for a year.
- Received an MFA from the University of Oregon; submitted Native Speaker as his thesis.
- Married to architect Michelle Branca; they have two daughters.
- Has taught creative writing at Princeton and Stanford.