JJ Lee
JJ Lee is the author of the 2026 collection Shivers: Christmas Ghost Stories to Read Aloud and the new publisher of the dark fiction imprint Darktide Books at Tidewater Press. He wrote a trio of dark fantasy stories featuring Bekker, a.k.a. The Man in the Long Black Coat, for Pulp Literature.
He edited the nonfiction "Christmas from Hell" anthologies: Better Next Year, Upon A Midnight Clear and Better This Year.
He is also the author of The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit, which was shortlisted for the 2011 Governor-General鈥檚 Literary Award for Nonfiction, the 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Nonfiction and the 2012 Hilary Weston Writers鈥� Trust Prize for Nonfiction.
As a magazine feature and essay writer, he received a Gold Award for Best Short Feature from the National Magazine Awards for his essay "ELLE First: You Are Beautiful." His pieces (published under both JJ Lee and James-Jason Lee) have appeared in print and online in Canadian Architect, C Magazine, Parachute, Border Crossings, The Georgia Straight, Vancouver Magazine, Flare, Fashion, 惭补肠濒别补苍鈥檚, Nuvo, and Montecristo.
He has juried the Hubert Evans Nonfiction Prize at the BC Book Prizes, the Governor-General鈥檚 Literary Award for Nonfiction, and the Hilary Weston Writers鈥� Trust Prize.
Finally, he is producing the upcoming short horror film Frequencies, directed by Leslie Parmar and based on a story by Sophie Ganic.
He lives in New Westminster.
JJ鈥檚 advice for Writer鈥檚 Studio applicants
What are you looking for in your workshop group?
The horror group comes alive with people who are willing to share, to be vulnerable and to accept the possibility the story they want to tell remains to be discovered. It thrives with people from all sorts of backgrounds and writing abilities. Wonderful writers are always welcome, but what matters most is people who possess the passion to follow through, the generosity to share and the flexibility to grow.
What do you look for when reading an applicant鈥檚 submission?
The cover letter is really important to me. I love hearing about what an applicant hopes to work on. If there鈥檚 a hook, share it. If there鈥檚 an incredible character, I want to know. Pitch a premise. Tell me your favourite dark fiction books. To be honest, your energy and current passion are more important to me than the portfolio or an irrefutable display of technique.
If you don鈥檛 have a current project in mind, that鈥檚 okay! Let me know what you think you want to write about. Thrash around. It鈥檚 okay. How did you come across the story or come up with the idea?
Additionally, sometimes having an interesting job, life history or intense hobby is enough to make an application stand out.
And, not to be a downer, but here鈥檚 what to avoid: telling me you鈥檝e always wanted to be a writer. The idea of the natural-born writer rubs against the belief that good writing can be taught. I was an 鈥渁ccidental鈥� writer. Never had the intent. And if you came to the craft later in life, I dig that.
In short, with so little room on a cover letter, I鈥檇 really like to know what鈥檚 cooking.