Nicole W. Lee is a poet born to Chinese Malaysian parents. She lives between Sydney and New York.

Her Pushcart Prize nominated poetry has been published in Agni, Crazyhorse (now swamp pink), Gulf Coast, Meanjin, and others, and has received support from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Tin House Writers Workshops, Palm Beach Poetry Festival, AWP (US), Create NSW, Writers Victoria/Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund, and the Ian Potter Cultural Trust (Aus). Nicole is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College and an assistant poetry editor at Four Way Review. Her long poetic sequence “Deluge: A Chinese Almanac” is the winner of the 2024 Palette Poetry Previously Published Poem Prize and is in the process of being optioned for a screenplay by filmmaker Grace Tan and for a stage play by playwright Serena Coady.

Awards & Recognition

    • Palette Poetry Previously Published Poem Prize, 1st place winner, 2024

    • Pushcart Prize nominee, 2022

    • Tin House Writers Workshop Fellow, 2022, 2021

    • Bread Loaf Writers Conference (Rona Jaffe Scholar), 2021

    • Palm Beach Poetry Festival (Kundiman scholar), 2021

    • Miami Book Fair (AAPI scholar), 2021

    • Association of Writing Programs (AWP) Writer to Writer Fellow, 2021

    • WestWords Emerging Writers Fellowship, 2020

    • VONA/Voices Fellow, 2015

    • Ian Potter Cultural Trust, 2022

    • Writers Victoria/Neilma Sidney Literary Fund, 2022

    • Create NSW Small Projects Grant, 2021