Mark W. Lee

Author

What is Mark W. Lee known for?

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mark W. Lee is an acclaimed American novelist, children's book writer, poet, and playwright. After completing his studies at Yale University, where he became friends with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and novelist Robert Penn Warren, Lee moved to New York City. Working as a taxi driver, language teacher, and a security guard, he also befriended artists Frank Moore and Lillian Mulero.

Mark W. Lee's literary work is well-researched and admired. For a poem about Henry Hudson, he ventured alone down the eastern shore of Hudson Bay. His poem, titled "Hudson Bay, 1611", was published in The Sewanee Review.

In the 1980s, Lee ventured to East Africa, becoming a foreign correspondent for Reuters and The Daily Telegraph. Reporting amid the turmoil of Ugandan civil war, he had several near-death experiences while reporting on elephant poaching. After being expelled from Uganda for his revealing writings on military atrocities, Lee returned to the United States and began writing plays and novels.

Lee's playwriting career is marked with success. His first play, "California Dog Fight", premiered in 1985 to critical acclaim, followed by the play "Rebel Armies Deep Into Chad" in 1989, which was well-received across several theaters in America. Over the years, many of his other plays, such as "Pirates" and "An American Romance", won awards and received praise from critics.

His first novel, "The Lost Tribe", was published in 1998, and it narrates an epic journey of Africans and Americans searching for the contemporary descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. His second novel, "The Canal House", published in 2003, is a gripping narrative set in Africa, London, and East Timor, describing the perilous world of war correspondents and aid workers. Lee has also contributed to a collection of essays and short stories about the Iraq war titled 'Politically Inspired'.

In 2013, Lee tapped into a new genre, publishing his first children's book "Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street" with Candlewick Press, proving his versatility as a writer.