Yi.Shun Lai author page

Yi Shun Lai biography

Yi Shun Lai is a novelist, essayist and creative writing educator whose published work includes contemporary fiction, memoir and young adult historical fiction. She has taught in the Master of Fine Arts programme at Bay Path University and contributed articles to The Writer magazine. Her essays have also appeared in publications including Shondaland and Brevity.

Her first novel, Not a Self-Help Book: The Misadventures of Marty Wu, was published by Shade Mountain Press in 2016. It follows a young Taiwanese-American woman who travels from New York to Taiwan after a professional setback and confronts complicated family relationships and expectations. Lai subsequently published Pin Ups, a memoir released by Homebound Publications in 2020, which examines the influence of female athletes and adventurers on her personal development.

Her debut young adult novel, A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic, was published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, in February 2024. Set in 1914 and written in the form of journal entries, the novel follows eighteen-year-old American suffragist Clara Ketterling-Dunbar, who conceals her age and nationality to join an Antarctic expedition. When the expedition’s ship becomes trapped in ice, Clara must contend with the dangers of polar exploration while challenging the expectations placed upon women.

The novel draws on the historical context of Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and the British women’s suffrage movement. It received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Shelf Awareness and was selected by the Junior Library Guild. A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic was also included in the Kirkus Reviews selection of the best young adult historical fiction of 2024.