Jennifer Lee Tsai's debut Melete reviewed in The Observer & The Guardian
'Powerful and distinct, Jennifer’s poems weave historical and personal trauma into a vivid, striking exploration of family, heritage, and personhood. Her work balances emotional depth, clarity, and sharp wit. At times meditative and lyrical, at others bold and incisive, Jennifer offers poetry that is both intimate and resonant.' – Romalyn Ante
Jennifer Lee Tsai’s first full-length poetry book Melete, published by Bloodaxe in May 2026, explores family history, intergenerational trauma, love, loss and belonging through the perspective of a second-generation British Chinese identity. Melete interweaves dual cultures and heritages through narratives of memory, migration and mysticism across Liverpool, China and Hong Kong.
Jennifer Lee Tsai is a poet, writer and artist. Born in Bebington on the Wirral, she grew up in Liverpool, where she still lives. She has published two pamphlets, Kismet (ignitionpress, 2019) and La Mystérique (Guillemot Press, 2022), with her first full-length poetry book, Melete, published by Bloodaxe in 2026. She is a fellow of The Complete Works, a Ledbury Poetry Critic, and a former Contributing Editor to Ambit. She has received a Northern Writers' Award for Poetry and is a winner of the Rebecca Swift Foundation’s Women Poets’ Prize. She has worked as a teacher of English to students in universities and colleges as well as within community settings. She is the recipient of an AHRC doctoral scholarship in Creative Writing at the University of Liverpool and an Artist in Residence at the Bluecoat’s studios through the Wittenham Bursary. Her poetry, essays and reviews have been published in publications including The Guardian, The Poetry Review, Poetry London, The Telegraph, The TLS and The White Review, as well as being broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Melete was longlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection 2026 (one of the Forward Prizes).
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CONVERSATION ONLINE IN POETRY LONDON
Poetry London, Online Exclusive: Jennifer Lee Tsai & Natalie Linh Bolderston, online Friday 3 July 2026
An exclusive conversation between poets Jennifer Lee Tsai and Natalie Linh Bolderston was posted on the Poetry London website on 3 July 2026. They were discussing the connections between their debut collections Melete and Divinations on Survival (Liverpool University Press). Jennifer writes in detail about her first full-length collection and about the background to some of the poems.
‘My writing about my predecessors is often inspired by the desire to speak with and for them, to represent British-Chinese voices that have not been heard historically, or have been rendered invisible or silent. I feel this strongly, especially with members of my family who have passed away: my paternal grandfather, who migrated to Liverpool as a seaman on the Blue Funnel Line; my maternal grandmother […] as well as my father, who left Communist China during the time of the Great Famine and entered the UK as a teenager. I explore these intersections across race, class, and identity, tracing their connection to Liverpool’s long established Chinese community, the oldest in Europe.’ – Jennifer Lee Tsai, Poetry London
‘Communing with Ghosts: A conversation between Jennifer Lee Tsai and Natalie Linh Bolderston’
https://poetrylondon.co.uk/communing-with-ghosts/
REVIEW COVERAGE IN THE GUARDIAN
The Guardian, Best recent poetry review - round-up, online Friday 5 June 2026
Jennifer Lee Tsai's debut poetry book Melete was well reviewed by Rishi Dastidar in his recent poetry feature which ran online in The Guardian on 5 June 2026.
'Lee Tsai’s debut is a sprawling mix of poetry and prose exploring second-generation Chinese identity in the UK [...] In exploring “the splitting of myself into two halves”, and showing the ambivalences in making sense of it, Lee Tsai has made a landmark work about the British south-east Asian experience.' – Rishi Dastidar, The Guardian (The best recent poetry)
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jun/05/the-best-recent-poetry-review-roundup
POETRY BOOKS OF THE MONTH REVIEW IN THE OBSERVER
The Observer, Poetry Books of the Month, Sunday 3 May 2026 (online 30 April 2026)
An illustrated review of Jennifer Lee Tsai's debut poetry book Melete was featured in Jade Cuttle’s Poetry Books of the Month column in The Observer of 3 May. For the first time, Jade is covering two books in her column - the other being Yiewsley by Daljit Nagra.
Both the online and print editions were illustrated with one of the two family photographs included in Melete. The one used by The Observer is of Jennifer Lee Tsai's grandparents with her father and two uncles (one of the uncles was a baby).
‘Debut poets are so often described as “daring” that the word has lost its shine. However, in the first full-length collection by Jennifer Lee Tsai – a Liverpool-based fellow of the Complete Works programme founded by Bernardine Evaristo – its true meaning glimmers through. This courage is shaped by moving stories of her family’s migration to the UK […] “With this – she writes herself / back into existence,” Lee Tsai writes in Rebirth. It is words, after all, that first provided her with an escape, lifting her from the monotony of pressing lids on to food containers in her family’s Chinese takeaway, to lyrical flights that would make any poet proud.’ – Jade Cuttle, The Observer (Poetry Books of the Month), on Melete
https://observer.co.uk/culture/books/article/poetry-books-of-the-month-melete-and-yiewsley
ONLINE REVIEW COVERAGE
New Writing North, New & Recent Poetry from the North, Spring 2026, online 20 March 2026
Jennifer Lee Tsai’s first full collection Melete was given an early review at the top of Will Mackie’s Spring 2026 poetry round-up.
'Melete is the debut collection by the exceptional poet Jennifer Lee Tsai, a Northern Writers’ Award winner in 2020. Jennifer’s collection follows on from her absorbing and expansive two pamphlets, Kismet (ignitionpress) and La Mystérique (Guillemot). The poems in Melete reflect on Jennifer’s upbringing in Liverpool, migration, memory and family history.' – Will Mackie, New Writing North (New and Recent Poetry from the North, Spring 2026)
https://newwritingnorth.com/journal/new-and-recent-poetry-from-the-north-spring-2026
'Fallen Star' by Jennifer Lee Tsai, Tmesis Theatre, 4 October 2020
Jennifer Lee Tsai reads her poem 'Fallen Star', which is now published in her debut collection Melete. The first line is inspired by a line from the Chinese folk tale The Assistant Thunder God.
'Fallen Star' was commissioned by Tmesis Theatre in 2020 as part of a collaborative digital project entitled Lone Women.
In 2021, the film 'Fallen Star' was selected for the Sao Carlos VideoDance Festival in Brazil. In 2025, it was selected to be screened in the Bluecoat Liverpool's gallery as part of an artists' season entitled But Does It Speak? which explored the work of artists who use poetry, fiction, writing and speech to establish and alter visual worlds.
Lone Women was a digital project from Tmesis Theatre featuring work by five writers based in the North of England.
JOINT ONLINE LAUNCH
Tuesday 19 May, 7pm, online launch event
Tishani Doshi and Jennifer Lee Tsai joined us for this launch event for new May 2026 titles. Patricia Smith was originally advertised as taking part but was unable to due to a family emergency. Both Tishani and Jennifer celebrated the publication of their new books by reading poems from them and discussing their work with each other and with the host, Bloodaxe editor Neil Astley.
It is now available to watch via YouTube. Jennifer read second in each set.
[30 April 2026]
