Julayne Lee

Julayne Lee is a 1.X generation adopted Asian American poet, artivist, producer, occasional blogger and Futbolista. Writing is a source of inspiration, community, liberation and survival for her. She has been published in Homeland Insecurities, a fundraiser for the APIA Spoken Word and Poetry Summit and the O.K.A.Y. (Overseas Korean Artists e-Yearbook), #5 and the 2017 City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide. Julayne was selected to read her poem For My Mother in the 2017 Listen to Your Mother show in Burbank. In addition, she has read in Seoul, S. Korea, Boston, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Berkeley and Los Angeles.

She has written for Korean Quarterly and her review of the filmCasa de los Babys was republished in Uri Shinmun, a multilingual publication based in the Netherlands. Julayne has been a guest blogger for Land of Gazillion Adoptees, Slant Eye for the Round Eye and the Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune. She has spoken on adoption at symposiums and universities in Korea and the US.

Julayne was a Community Literature Initiative Scholar and is a Las Dos Brujas Writers’ Workshop alum. You can hear her at open mics throughout Los Angeles and Orange County: Sunday Jump, Tuesday Night Cafe, The Great Mic, Our Mic, The World Stage, Common Ground, The Definitive Soapbox, Rapp Saloon Reading Series and The Window @ A.G. Geiger. Her first collection of poetry Not My White Savior is forthcoming (2018) from Rare Bird Books.

Julayne has a B.S. in Mathematics Education and an M.A.Ed. and is a Sr. Data Analyst. When she’s not writing or at a literary event, she enjoys stand up paddle boarding (SUP), traveling, films, Korean dramas and sampling cupcakes at the local coffee shop. She is a co-founder and steering committee member of Adoptee Solidarity Korea – Los Angeles (ASK-LA). She is also a member of the Adoptee Rights Campaign working to pass the Adoptee Citizenship Act to ensure all inter-country adoptees have US citizenship.