About me
Short bio: Ellen Lee is the author of a forthcoming non-fiction children’s book about Chinese American pioneers during the 19th century. She’s also a senior staff writer at Wirecutter.
I love a good story.
One with compelling characters, nuance, twists and turns, and mindblowing facts and details. I love learning about new places, experiences, ideas, perspectives and histories, particularly those that have been overlooked in the past.
Sometimes I’m lucky enough to write these stories.
As a children’s book author, I strive to inform, inspire, and ignite change with my words. My middle-grade non-fiction book about Chinese American history is forthcoming with Abrams Books for Young Readers. I also authored the ADJECTIVE book of Mad Libs about Lunar New Year. (Let’s hope you filled in the blank with “hilarious” and not “poopy.”) I’m represented by Andrea Cascardi with the Transatlantic Agency.
I’m also a senior staff writer at Wirecutter (a New York Times Company), with a focus on parenting and kids. My guides include recommendations on kids gifts, how to track your child’s location, and celebrating Lunar New Year with Legos.
Over the years, I’ve contributed to publications such as The Atlantic, BBC, and CNBC, among others. In 2021, I co-edited Medium’s pop-up blog, StopAsianHate, which was launched in response to the rise in anti-Asian violence. As a business and technology staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle (and SFGate.com), I led its coverage on Apple, tech startups and social media, writing some of the earliest mainstream stories about YouTube, Instagram, Airbnb, and others. A fellowship through the International Center for Journalists also took me to China to report on the rise of Alibaba and China’s digital economy.
A longtime member of the Asian American Journalists Association, I serve as the co-director of the AAJA Freelance Affinity Group, as well as co-director of the AAJA Media Institute. I was also a past chapter president and national board member. In 2021, I co-founded the Parenting Journalists Society with Katherine Reynolds Lewis and Kelly Glass. I’m also part of the leadership team for the Institute for Independent Journalists.
I received a B.A. in English from UC Berkeley and a M.S. from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism.
In addition to good stories, I indulge in mint chocolate, peanut butter chocolate, and orange chocolate. Curly fries are the best fries.