Sky Lee

Photo D&M Publications

My introduction to the work of Sky Lee was the short story, "Broken Teeth," published in Vancouver Short Stories (UBC Press 1985). This brief tale opens with a Canadian-born adult daughter visiting her mother, who still lives according to the ways of the old country. Their apparently cold relationship revolves around duty and guilt.

When Ma tells her daughter about an accident that happened back in China when she was a small child, the atmosphere shifts subtly. Feeling a new compassion, the daughter does what she can to provide some belated consolation to the traumatized eight-year-old her mother still carries within.

Sky Lee went on to publish a novel, The Disappearing Moon Cafe (1990). This tale portrays the alienation suffered by generations of a family living in a society that often ignored and rejected them, as well as unveiling the feudal social structures they've brought with them from the old land. This novel won the City of Vancouver Book Award and was nominated for the Governor General's Award.

In 1994, Lee published a collection of short stories called Bellydancer. She has been labelled a feminist writer, and her stories deal with themes of identity and community in the face of racism and homophobia. In the late sixties, she was a founding member of the Asian Canadian Writers workshop. Fellow-members include Vancouver author Joy Kogawa and playwright Roy Miki.

Sky Lee is also a poet, and an illustrator who collaborated with Paul Yee on a children's book.