Helie Lee (born August 29, 1964) is an American writer and university lecturer [2] who has also made a documentary film.
Helie Lee | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 29, 1964 |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 이혜리[1] |
| Revised Romanization | Yi Hyeri |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yi Hyeri |
Early life
editLee was born on August 29, 1964, in Seoul, South Korea. Her family moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada when she was four years old. A year later, they emigrated to the United States, settling in California. She attended El Camino Real High School and graduated from UCLA in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.[3]
Activism
editLee became active in raising awareness of human rights issues for North Korean defectors. In 2002, she testified before the Senate Subcommittee Hearing on Immigration to urge increased American support for North Korean refugees.[4]
Books
editStill Life With Rice
editStill Life With Rice is a novel written by Helie Lee, and published in 1997 by Simon & Schuster.[5] It is based on accounts of suffering due to war and child abuse. Although it is written by Helie Lee, the book is mostly written from the viewpoint of Lee's grandmother, Hongyong Baek. In the book, Lee expresses her annoyance for the way her mother and grandmother think she is too Americanized, and should be more Korean. It was described by Booklist as having "great narrative power".[6]
In the Absence of Sun
editIn her second book, In the Absence of Sun (1998), Lee recounts her family's experiences in helping her uncle escape from North Korea.[7]
Other works
editIn 2010, she released a documentary called Macho Like Me, in which she "doffs all signifiers of femininity to live as a man". A review in the LA Weekly panned the "cutsey one–woman-show framing device" but stated that the experiences that "upend [Lee's] preconceptions, mak[e] for engrossing viewing."[8]
Selected works
edit- Still Life With Rice, Simon & Schuster, 1997.
- In the Absence of Sun, Harmony, 1998.
References
edit- ^ "반 년을 남자로 산 이 여자, 미국 베스트셀러 작가 이혜리", Korea Daily, 2011-01-14, retrieved 2011-09-29
- ^ Profile in Courage People Magazine. June 17, 2002Vol. 57No. 23 By Galina Espinoza
- ^ "Helie Lee". Asian American Net.
- ^ Testimony of Ms. Helie Lee June 21, 2002
- ^ Still Life With Rice. Simon & Schuster. 1997. ISBN 9780684827117. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
Still life with rice.
- ^ Lee, Helie (8 April 1997). Still Life With Rice (Paperback). Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0684827115.
- ^ Korean-American remembers how she helped family out of North Korea Archived 2011-06-22 at the Wayback Machine Southern California Public Radio KPPC interview with Susan Valot July 3, 2009
- ^ Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival: Subculture Within a Subculture LA Weekly Ernest Hardy. Apr 29 2010.