T.K. Lee

2020 TWT Scholar

T.K. Lee’s award-winning work crosses several genres, for the stage, on stage, and off stage.

At times a playwright, and other times a poet, he is at all times firmly planted in the southern tradition of gothic storytelling. His work has appeared in national and international publications including The Louisville Review, Carolina Quarterly, Deep South Magazine, and his poetry and short fiction have been anthologized through collections published in the UK — most recently, his plays On How To Accommodate Marlo’s Frying Pan and Sindication were published (Off the Wall Plays, London) and made available for licensing. Lee’s short fiction has also been translated into French and Italian..

A recipient of the 2019 Mississippi Humanities Faculty of the Year award, Lee has also won accolades for his work in independent theatre and across the country, most recently through the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) and AACTFest where his award-winning credits include turns as director (2009’s SETC winner Catfish Moon), actor (2017’s SETC winner; AACTFest nominee Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike), and playwright (2018’s SETC winner for Paper Thin). His plays have also won awards from the Mississippi Theatre Association, the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival in New Orleans and Algonquin/ITAP.

After receiving his MFA in 2015 from Spalding University in Louisville, KY, he immediately joined the faculty in the nascent MFA in Creative Writing program at MUW, teaching both undergraduate literature and creative writing, as well as playwriting and poetry. His first collection of poetry, entitled To Square a Circle, debuted this past October at the Eudora Welty Symposium and has garnered high critical praise for his “uncanny wit; impeccable sense of pacing and tone; bringing a dynamic new voice to southern poetry.” On the stage, his plays Paper Thin and On How To Accommodate Marlo’s Frying Pan are in currently in production,  gracing stages here (Alabama, Florida) and beyond (South Africa).

For more information, please visit his website: www.tkleewriting.com or follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tkleewriting  

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