Nicole W. Lee’s poems embody and transfigure living myths, histories, and cosmologies.

Born in Sydney, Australia to Chinese Malaysian parents, Nicole’s poetry has been published in or is forthcoming from Adroit Journal, AGNI, Gulf Coast, Meanjin, Poetry Northwest, Shenandoah, and Tupelo Quarterly, among 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 poems have won the 2024 Palette Poetry Previously Published Poem Prize, placed as finalists in the 2025 Tupelo Quarterly Open Poem Prize and the 2026 Adroit Journal Gregory Djanikian scholarship, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her poem “Deluge: A Chinese Almanac” is currently being adapted for stage by Serena Coady (UK) and for film by Grace Tan (Aus). Her poetry has been performed by Chamber Made Opera, Victorian Opera, and Marian Street Theatre for Young People, and featured on Channel 7’s ‘Sunrise’ (Aus). As an educator, she teaches classical Chinese poetry and its relationship to contemporary American poetry at the Asian American Literary Archive. She lives between the traditional lands of the Wallumedegal people (Sydney) and the Lenape (New York).

Awards & Recognition

    • Adroit Journal Gregory Djanikian Scholarship, Finalist, 2026

    • Tupelo Quarterly Open Poem Prize, Finalist, 2025

    • 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

    • NOVA Victorian Opera/Chamber Made Opera Fellowship, 2012

    • Ian Potter Cultural Trust, 2022

    • Writers Victoria/Neilma Sidney Literary Fund, 2022

    • Create NSW Small Projects Grant, 2021