Lee Lai

Lee Lai (born 1993) is an Australian cartoonist and writer of graphic novels. Lee was born in Australia but has lived in Canada since 2016. She is known for her debut graphic novel Stone Fruit, for which she was named an honoree of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 award in 2021. The book was also a finalist for several other awards in the US and Australia. In 2025, Lai released Cannon, which in May 2026 became the first graphic novel to win the Stella Prize, with Lai being the first trans and non-binary person to win the prize.

Early life and education Lee Lai was born in 1993 in Melbourne and has a sister, with whom she is close.

Career Lai became interested in comics because of mild dyslexia, which made reading traditional novels difficult. Her short story comics have been published in The New Yorker, The Lifted Brow, Room Magazine, and Everyday Feminism. and gay.

American Library Association's Best Graphic Novels for Adults Ignatz Award for Outstanding Artist

Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 Award Cartoonist Studio Prize Doug Wright Award for Best Book Lambda Literary Award for Graphic Novel/Comics Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics American Library Association's Over the Rainbow Book List Stella Prize

Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics

Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction Carol Shields Prize for Fiction Stella Prize Publications

Stone Fruit (2021) Cannon (2025)

Contributions

Heartwood: Non-binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy, edited by Joamette Gil (2019) McSweeney's #62: The Queer Fiction Issue, edited by Patrick Cottrell, Dave Eggers (Editor), and Claire Boyle (Editor) (2020)

Illustrations

A Head-Heart Start For Life: Creative Mindful Discoveries for Young Children, written by Janet Etty-Leal (2019)