Everything Here Is Beautiful

Mira T. Lee is a contemporary American author whose work explores ideas of identity, family, and mental illness. Lee was born in Ohio to Chinese immigrant parents. She depicts this experience of cultural duality in Everything Here is Beautiful, her debut novel, in which two Chinese American sisters must navigate the nuances of their cultural identities and the impact these nuances have on their relationships to others.

In addition to writing about Chinese American experiences, Lee addresses the stigmatization of mental health conditions within society. Her characters grapple with the impact of mental illness on daily life, both from the viewpoint of a person with mental health conditions and that of a caretaker’s. Lee works to humanize traditionally stigmatized illnesses like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia through characters like Lucia, aiming to increase empathy and combat biased, stereotypical representations of mental health that are often seen in media. In addition to Everything Here is Beautiful, Lee has written multiple essays and short stories for various publications, such as the New York Times Modern Love column and the Harvard Review.