Prior to entering the PhD Literature program at the University of Pittsburgh, Gabriela Lee earned her BA in English Studies: Creative Writing (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines, and her MA in Literary Studies from the National University of Singapore. Her research interests encompass speculative literature, youth literature, digital humanities, and contemporary Philippine literature in English.
Her creative and critical work has been published in various publications: most recently, her short story “The Belly of the Beast” was included in a special issue of the journal MĀNOA: A Pacific Journal of International Writing called “Here was Once the Sea: An Anthology of Southeast Asian Ecowriting.” Her 2022 fiction collection, A Playlist for the End of the World, published by the University of the Philippines Press, was nominated for Best Book of Short Fiction (English) in the 2023 Philippine National Book Awards. She also received the Grand Prize at the 2019 PBBY-Salanga Awards, which was released as Cely’s Crocodile: The Story and Art of Araceli Limcaco-Dans through Tahanan Books in 2020. Her latest article, “When the Shoe Doesn't Fit: Reading Cinderella as Colonial Children's Literature in the Philippines,” was published in a 2023 issue of Children's Literature Association Quarterly on reframing Golden Age children’s literature, and was featured in an episode of the Hopkins Press podcast in 2024.
She serves as a member of the Diversity Committee of the Children’s Literature Association (ChLA), and as country representative for the Philippines for the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA). She served as Transnational and Comparative Book Review Editor for the Journal of Asian Studies from 2021-2024, as At-Large member of the SFRA Executive Committee from 2023-2024, and as Treasurer for the English Graduate Student Organization (EGSO) from 2022-2023. Currently, Gabriela is on study leave from her faculty position at the Department of English & Comparative Literature at the University of the Philippines while she pursues her PhD studies. She can be found online at www.sundialgirl.com.