Bri Lee

Bri Lee is a Sydney-based author, freelance writer, and speaker.

After graduating from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Law (Hons) and Arts (Mandarin) in 2014, she was admitted to the legal profession in early 2017. Bri is now completing an MPhil in Creative Writing.

Her first book, a memoir called Eggshell Skull, was published by Allen & Unwin in June 2018. It explores sexism in the legal industry and justice system, and tells the story of how many barriers women – including Bri herself – face when trying to access justice. Eggshell Skull won several awards including the Biography of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards. It also received several other listings, including being longlisted for The Stella Book Prize.

Bri is a well-known advocate for criminal justice law reform. She worked as a research assistant to Professor Jonathan Crowe at Bond University, where together they authored a paper detailing Queensland’s consent and ‘mistake of fact’ laws. After more than a year campaigning, their work was successful, and the Queensland Attorney-General referred the issue to the Law Reform Commission.

Bri’s second book, released in November 2019, is an essay called Beauty. In Beauty, Bri explores our obsession with thinness and asks how an intrinsically unattainable standard of physical ‘perfection’ has become so crucial to so many.

Her third book, Who Gets to Be Smart, published in June 2021, looks at the Australian education system and how it intersects with privilege and power to exacerbate social stratification.