Lee Fraser uses poetry for ogling life’s details, emotional archaeology, comic relief, sometimes all at once. She enjoys experiments with restricted word sets e.g. using a Year 1 spelling list (e.g. Dot by Dot, Enough and Joy), the Swadesh international word list (e.g. You Say Heart Names), or using only the words from a well-known children’s story.
Lee grew up in Aotearoa New Zealand, was a linguist in Papua New Guinea and Kenya in her 20s, collided with domesticity in Ōtautahi Christchurch during her 30s, and later rediscovered health through poetry. She also loves music, plants and dietary requirements victories.
She won the Ōtautahi poetry slam in 2023 and 2024, and placed 4th nationally in 2024. Lee has performed 100 different original poems since August 2023, featuring at Biketober, Canterbury Poets’ Collective, Face/Off Comedy vs Poetry, Late Night Poetry, Lobe Sessions and Te Pūtahi’s ‘Cities Need Apartments’, with half-hour sets at Akaroa Open Mic and Speakeasy, as well as reading at primary and secondary schools, open mics and church services. In 2024-2025 she’s had 50+ pieces accepted for publication internationally. In 2024 her 100-word story was longlisted for Micro Madness, poem Never Laid a Hand on Me was shortlisted for the Monica Taylor Poetry Prize, and poem Wishbones was featured in Given Words.
Stage and page poem feedback:
Dave Adams: “super talented”
Jo D: “humorous and touching”
Bel Monypenny: “you’ve voiced my life.”
Dietrich Soakai: “articulate, open hearted”
Zoë Deans: “well-delivered… Punchy and raw.”
Alicia France: “words and delivery are incredibly powerful”
Jo Parsons: “An incredibly brave, REAL, piece of writing. It needs to be said.”
Greg O’Connell: “beautiful and funny evocations… powerful and witty and humane words.”
Event feedback:
Ali Jones, audience reviewer at Face/Off Comedy vs Poetry: “fabulous”
Canterbury Poets Collective feature set: “amazed everyone“
Kym, Year 5/6 kaiako, Mairehau Primary School: “It is so powerful for tamariki to see passionate people in action.”
Brett Mann, in audience at Speakeasy set: “a range of very different issues, from a very creative and original perspective, that really held our attention… came across as very authentic and open which is always engaging.”
Jessica Halliday, on staff at Te Pūtahi: “… magnificent poems and reading last night as part of He Whakawhiti Kōrero Christchurch Conversations. They were superb and such a great response to the topic and issues we’re concerned about.”
Interview:
Plains FM ‘Beyond Rhyme’ poetry show, 8 Dec 2024 – talking memorisation, what inspires poems, reasons to honour AoNZ slang, half-chopped carrots while Lee scribbles poem notes, audience engagement, managing the nerves roller coaster, competitive slam, poetry sessions in schools, and her poetic origin story.
Lee Fraser Poetry 