John Barrett Lee
John Barrett Lee is a writer from Pembrokeshire, now based in Ho Chi Minh City, where he has lived for many years with his Welsh-Vietnamese family. He is Head of English as an Additional Language at the British International School.
He studied Creative Writing at the University of Glamorgan, where he was taught by author Robert Nisbet and poets Sheenagh Pugh and Tony Curtis, before going on to complete a PGCE and an MA in English Language Teaching. He has lived and worked in Italy, Thailand and Vietnam with the British Council and various international schools.
In his free time, he enjoys choral singing as a member of the International Choir and Orchestra of Ho Chi Minh City, and cooking – especially Italian food.
‘Shield Eyes From Light’ is his first published story in over a decade.
Q: Do you have a lucky writing talisman? If so, what is it?
A: I wear my great-grandmother’s wedding ring on my little finger. She was a miner’s daughter from Tonypandy, and the ring dates back to 1917. I twist it when I’m thinking.
Q: What is the least interesting part of writing for you?
A: I can often see a story arc so clearly that I start at the end, then write the beginning. It’s the middle I find hard going – filling in that stretch between the spark and the resolution can feel like wading through wet sand at times.
Q: What superpower would you like to have and why?
A: Either super-empathy – to truly understand what others are feeling – or the kind of imagination that allows some science fiction writers to take sustained flights of fantasy. My own fiction is much more rooted in the everyday, but I really admire that expansive creative reach.