Nania Lee is a second-year MFA fiction candidate at The University of Michigan. She's currently chugging along on a novel. Before coming to UM, she received her Masters in Rehabilitative Speech and Hearing Sciences from The George Washington University. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, sending things via postal mail, & eating spicy food and then fanning her mouth.
Nania Lee has written 5 article(s) for MQR.
by Nania Lee
All eighteen students in my College Writing course this fall showed up prepared and on-time for their 15-minute, one-on-one meetings with me during week three of the semester. I had a short list of questions for them — what’s your intended major? do you like to write? and what are your goals for this course? Now, many would say there’s no point in asking a Freshman about their major, as it’s likely to change at least once before the end of this….sentence. (…and several times throughout their college careers.) But it’s the way in which they answered — their delivery and the words they used, that helped me see past the student to get glimpses of the writer.
Their answers varied, but many of them had a common tone: “I’m going to work on Capitol Hill so I’m majoring in Political Science and Minoring in International Studies”… “I’m getting into Ross [UM's very prestigious and competitive pre-business program] and then I’ll be an I-Banker” … “Pre-Med. I’ll probably be a doctor but I’d like to try out surgery to see which one I like better.”
I loved their confidence. Many of them spoke in firm declaratives about their futures and felt their paths were hammered in stone. Bold, brave, and ready to take college by the horns — my Freshmen were gunning for success. But with the very next question, these first-year lions turned into lambs.
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by Nania Lee
I’ve recently gotten into the habit of tuning into AM radio while getting ready in the morning — sometimes listening specifically for the news; other times just enjoying the voices and occasional musical interludes that make for relaxing background noise. The other day, to my initial delight, I heard a guy mention one of my favorite literary protagonists: Emma Bovary, passionate and tempestuous heroine in Gustave Flaubert’s mid-19th century classic, Madame Bovary. But as the young man on the radio continued, it appeared that he didn’t share my admiration–instead calling Emma Bovary a “heartless, superficial (_insert your favorite expletive_),” who deserved to “burn in hell for her selfishness.” Zoinks! Now, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but this guy seemed a little too riled up. Let’s be honest, Emma was no angel, but the woman had her reasons.
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by Nania Lee
While my graduate writing program at UofM is on break for the summer, I’ve adopted Chicago as my temporary home. And in the past several weeks, while strolling around town, seeking some inspiration for my next short story, and enjoying the lakefront path that winds from the northern to southernmost points of the city, I’ve come to realize that Chicago is overflowing with public art. Its statues, ornate fountains, and contemporary sculptures are casually integrated into some of the busiest parts of the the city, turning Chicago into a veritable walking museum that anyone can enjoy for free!
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by Nania Lee
There’s no disputing that I’m a tightly wound person. Once, I was so nervous about serving beer at a party I threw in my parents’ basement, that I numbered the beer cans and made people sign them out. Years later, in the middle of a Mardi Gras Crawfish Boil in New Orleans, I snuck into the host’s house to check my email for updates about a class project. And just last week, I made so many “to-do” and “to-buy” lists that I had to make a list of my lists. And although this anxiety-fueled mode of operation makes me a generally reliable person and a productive fledgling writer, I’ve come to realize… it is also threatening my sanity.
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by Nania Lee
Apparently, everyone got the memo on American Born Chinese before I did. Published in 2006, Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel is flush with accolades: a National Book Award Finalist, winner of the Michael L Printz Award, and a “top” pick of multiple publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Time Magazine, and Publisher’s Weekly. Where was I? What was I doing in 2006 that I missed its release? How had I overlooked this amazing graphic novel, while somehow convincing myself to read the first installment of a melodramatic teen-vampire-romance-novel-series that shall go unnamed. I hang my head in shame.
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