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Lee Murray (writer)

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Lee Murray
ONZM
Born1965 (age 59–60)
Putāruru, New Zealand
Occupations
  • Author
  • editor
Notable workTaine McKenna Adventures Series
Awards

Lee Wei-Hahn Murray ONZM (born 1965) is a New Zealand science fiction, fantasy, and horror writer and editor.[1] She is a third generation Chinese New Zealander who has written over forty works.[2] She is a five-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award and a twelve-time winner of the Sir Julius Vogel Award. She is most noted for her Taine McKenna military thrillers, and supernatural crime-noir series The Path of Ra.[3][4] In December 2024, Murray was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature, particularly speculative literature.

Biography

[edit]

Murray was born in Putāruru.[1] She previously worked as a scientist and an advisor for the OECD.[1] She is the co-founder of Young New Zealand Writers with Piper Mejia, an organization which has provided development and publishing opportunities for New Zealand school students.[1][5] She suffers from anxiety and depression.[6] She currently lives in Tauranga.[7]

Honours and awards

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Murray's anthologies Hellhole: An Anthology of Subterranean Terror and Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women won the Bram Stoker Award for Anthology in 2018[8] and 2020 respectively, while her collection Grotesque: Monster Stories won the Fiction Collection category in 2020.[9] Other works have won the Australian Shadows and Sir Julius Vogel awards.[10] She was the winner of the 2019 Bram Stoker Mentor of the year award.[11] She is a professional member of the Horror Writers Association,[12] Australian Horror Writers Association,[13] and the New Zealand Society of Authors.[14] In 2020 she was awarded the New Zealand Society of Authors Honorary Literary Fellowship.[15] In 2021 she was awarded the Grimshaw Sargeson 2021 Fellowship.[16] She won the NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize 2023 with her manuscript Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud.[17][18]

Murray (right), after her investiture as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit by the governor-general, Dame Cindy Kiro, at Government House, Auckland, on 23 May 2025

In the 2025 New Year Honours, Murray was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature, particularly speculative literature.[19]

Works as author

[edit]
Year Title Award Category Result Ref.
2012 Battle of the Birds Sir Julius Vogel Award Youth Novel Winner
2013 "Hope is the thing with feathers" Sir Julius Vogel Award Short Story Winner
2014 Cave Fever Sir Julius Vogel Award Novella Winner
2015 "Inside Ferndale" Sir Julius Vogel Award Short Story Winner [20]
2016 "The Thief's Tale" Sir Julius Vogel Award Short Story Winner
2017 Into the Mist Sir Julius Vogel Award Novel Winner
— Sir Julius Vogel Award Services to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Winner
2018 "Dead End Town" Bram Stoker Award Short Fiction Nominee [8]
Hounds of the Underworld Sir Julius Vogel Award Novel Winner
2019 Into the Ashes Bram Stoker Award Novel Nominee [21]
Into the Sounds Sir Julius Vogel Award Novel Winner
2020 Grotesque: Monster Stories Bram Stoker Award Fiction Collection Winner [9]
2021 Permanent Damage Bram Stoker Award Short Fiction Winner [22]
Tortured Willows Bram Stoker Award Poetry Collection Winner [22]
2022 I Don't Read Horror (& Other Weird Tales) Bram Stoker Award Short Non-Fiction Winner [23]
2023 Despatches Bram Stoker Award Long Fiction Nominee

Works as editor

[edit]
Year Title Award Category Result Ref.
2014 Baby Teeth: Bite-sized Tales of Terror Sir Julius Vogel Award Collected Work Winner
2017 At the Edge Sir Julius Vogel Award Collected Work Winner
2018 Hellhole: An Anthology of Subterranean Terror Australian Shadow Edited Work Winner
Bram Stoker Award Anthology Nominee [8]
2020 Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women Aurealis Anthology Nominee [24][25]
Bram Stoker Award Anthology Winner [9]
Midnight Echo #15 Australian Shadow Edited Work Winner [26]

Bibliography

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Taine McKenna Adventures

[edit]
  1. Into the Mist (2017)
  2. Into the Sounds (2018)
  3. Into the Ashes (2019)

Standalone novels

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  • Misplaced (2013)

Collections

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  • Beyond This Story (2014)
  • Grotesque: Monster Stories (2020)

Edited works

[edit]
  • At the Edge (2017)
  • Hellhole: An Anthology of Subterranean Terror (2017)
  • Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women (2
  • Midnight Echo #15 (2020)
  • Asian Ghost Short Stories (2022)
  • Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror (2023)

Contributions to anthologies

[edit]
Selected Stories[27]
Year Title Anthology
2016 [title missing] The Refuge Collection Book 1: Heaven to Some
2018 [title missing] Beneath the Waves: Tales from the Deep (4)
2019 [title missing] HWA Poetry Showcase Volume VI

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Tauranga's Lee Murray is one of NZ's best science fiction and fantasy writers". New Zealand Herald. 6 July 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Writer: Lee Murray - Writers • Auckland Writers Festival". www.writersfestival.co.nz. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Bay of Plenty horror fiction author Lee Murray wins Bram Stoker Award". New Zealand Herald. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Kiwi writer Lee Murray wins two prestigious Bram Stoker Awards® by the Horror Writers Association". Focus Magazine. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  5. ^ "About us". Young NZ Writers. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  6. ^ Lee Murray (30 October 2019). "Horror, in real life: writers and their mental illness demons". Newsroom. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Black cranes and monster stories". SunLive. 14 August 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "2018 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  9. ^ a b c "2020 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  10. ^ Eleanor Wenman (26 June 2017). "'Exotic' Kiwi sci-fi makes a mark overseas". Stuff. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Mentor of the Year Award – The Bram Stoker Awards". Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Murray, Lee – The Bram Stoker Awards". Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Australasian Horror Writers Association". Australasian Horror Writers Association. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Lee Murray | New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa". Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  15. ^ "New Zealand Society of Authors Waitangi Day Honours announced". ReadNZ. 5 February 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  16. ^ "A Murder Mystery Novel And A Series Of Prose Poems For Grimshaw Sargeson's 2021 Fellowship | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Announcing the NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize 2023 winner!". NZSA: The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc). 19 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Horror author Lee Murray is NZ's Stephen King". Now To Love. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  19. ^ "New Year Honours List 2025 - Citations for Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC)". www.dpmc.govt.nz. 31 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  20. ^ "Wellingtonians scoop up book awards". Cook Strait News. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2021 – via Issuu.com.
  21. ^ "2019 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  22. ^ a b "2021 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  23. ^ "2022 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  24. ^ "Aurealis Awards 2020 finalists announced". 6 April 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  25. ^ Tehani (31 March 2021). "2020 Aurealis Awards Shortlist Announcement". Aurealis Awards. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  26. ^ locusmag (11 June 2021). "2020 Australian Shadows Awards Winners". Locus Online. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  27. ^ "Lee Murray". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
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