Biography

Mirinae was born and grew up in South Korea. Her literary debut novel, 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster, was sold in a six-figure deal to Harper in the USA, and is forthcoming in the spring of 2023. Publishers around the world continue to acquire the foreign rights of the novel, including Virago in the UK, Nord in Italy, Penguin Random House in Spain, Editura Trei in Romania, Dioptra in Greece, and Alpha in Denmark. She is working with a TV/film agent at Creative Artist Agency in Hollywood for the screen adaptation of the novel.

MALCS was a wonderful programme that introduced me to lots of great literture, films, and literary theories. It also provided me with plenty of opportunities to practice both nonfiction and fiction writing.

Experience at MALCS

MALCS was a wonderful program that introduced me to lots of great literature, films, and literary theories. It also provided me with plenty of opportunities to practice both nonfiction and fiction writing. Through class discussions and lectures by teachers such as Dr. Veg, Jason Coe, and Winnie Yee, I acquired a broad range of academic knowledge as well as novel perspectives on culture in general. Especially as a foreigner, I appreciated the opportunity to learn about the local culture, the contemporary narratives of Hong Kong.

Mirinae Lee: Posted on Facebook and IG between May 23, 2022 - Jun 13, 2022

About 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster

“8 Lives of a Century-Old trickster” is inspired by a story of Mirinae’s great-aunt, one of the oldest women to escape alone from North Korea. This genre-bending novel consists of 8 dark and spell-binding tales that circle around the female protagonist “trickster” and her family, set in the most turbulent times of modern Korean history. Throughout the course of 8 interconnected tales, the protagonist constantly shapeshifts: she’s a slave, an escape artist, a murderer, a terrorist, a spy, a lover and a mother.

-- This is a story of a mole --

“It was about the size of a pea, light aubergine in color. He still remembers how it felt under his fingers: how it stood, pert and taut, when pressed down; yet how pliantly it leaned over when caressed sideways. A little oddity he would always remember her by.”

From “Me, Myself, and Mole,” a standalone chapter from “8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster”

-- We seldom slept with a roof covering our heads --

“Starlight always lingered above our frowned faces, rapt in sleep, as the only choice of our nightly shelter was abandoned houses brought down by fire.

Despite the nocturnal chill gushing through the mangled ceiling, we slept well. We ate what we could. We survived.

We, during the war, however, was a slippery concept. It could mean both a Northerner and Southerner, either a commie or capitalist, it didn’t really matter. Every night I tried to form we with a stranger, another human body next to me in pale darkness, to keep myself warm and shielded from too much loneliness.”

From “Bring Down the House,” a standalone chapter from “8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster”