Lee Conell is a highly acclaimed literary fiction author, best known for her work "The Party Upstairs," published in 2020. She has also gained recognition for her award-winning short story collection, "Subcortical," which won the American Fiction Award and The Story Prize Spotlight Award. Conell's exceptional writing talent has been acknowledged through various endowment awards, including the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in 2020, as well as becoming a fellow of the Yiddish Book Center, Vanderbilt University, and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Conell's fiction has been widely featured in numerous prestigious publications, including "Glimmer Train," "Kenyon Review Online," and the "Oxford American." Her short stories have been shortlisted for the Pushcart Prize anthology and Best American Short Stories, and she has won the esteemed Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Award. Aside from her writing career, Conell has also dedicated herself to teaching, having served as a professor at the Nashville Public Library, Vanderbilt University, and Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital.
Lee Conell's exceptional writing talent has been recognized in academic circles as well. She earned her MFA from Vanderbilt University and has taught for various institutions, including Southern Word, SUNY New Paltz, and Vanderbilt University. Conell's fiction has been published in several prestigious outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, "Glimmer Train," "Kenyon Review online," "Guernica," and "American Short Fiction." Her work has been widely celebrated, and she continues to make a significant contribution to the literary world.