Y S Lee
Biography
Y. S. Lee’s poems have won Contemporary Verse 2’s 2022 Foster Prize and been anthologized in Best Canadian Poetry 2025 and Best Canadian Poetry 2027. Her first full-length collection, Rebuke the Ghosts (Brick Books), and her second chapbook, care (The Alfred Gustav Press), will be published in 2027, along with her re-issued young adult mystery series, The Agency (Walker Books).
Micro-interview
I adored the metaphysical poets - John Donne, Andrew Marvell. In reading them, I realized that smart, prickly, playful people hadn't changed much over hundreds of years. It was simultaneously reassuring and alarming.
I started writing poetry in 2020, during lockdown. I've been thinking about language and culture for much longer than that – my first novel was published in 2009 - but for some reason, poetry always seemed much more intimidating. I thought of it as something that only extremely serious people did, and didn’t think I had anything to say from up on a pedestal. Then I joined a remarkable writing group and, every single week, the poets in it cracked open my heart and boggled my mind and showed me how wrong I was. It was utterly humbling and inspirational. I was lucky to have my writing group tell me, "You're a poet! Submit your work to journals!" and I believed them. But just the other day, a bookstore clerk asked me, "Are you a poet?" and I fumbled the answer. Maybe one day I'll stop being ambivalent.
Keep listening, keep observing, keep feeling. But really, ideally, this is every artist's - and every person’s - job. It's how we connect with other humans.
Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang's "Dick Pics". Let's recite it until we don't need to anymore.
