Tristan Hay Lee (she/her) is a Toronto-based writer of Korean, Japanese, and European descent. Her work has been published in various literary magazines including Room, Ricepaper, and The Selkie, and has been shortlisted for the HarperCollins/UBC Prize for Best New Fiction and the Bridge Prize. A fourth-generation Japanese Canadian descendant whose family was interned and dispossessed during World War II, she is drawn to themes of identity and alienation, and often uses her writing to explore intergenerational wounds. She specializes in literary fiction, young adult fiction, and screenwriting.

Tristan earned her BFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia in 2021, followed by her MFA in Creative Writing from UBC in 2026. She has written over 20 episodes of children’s animated shows as a freelance screenwriter, including Cocomelon, Caillou, and Marc Brown’s HOP. She currently works as an in-house writer at a kids entertainment company.

Tristan lives in Toronto with her partner and their needy mini dachshund. On her days off, you can find her playing pickleball terribly or thrifting yet another leather jacket she doesn’t need.

Follow her on Instagram @thayleeee.