Activism lurks as a underlying element in Jessica J. Lee's nature-themed writing.

Jessica J. Lee's New Book, "Dispersals," Explores Plant Life and Human Migration

Jessica J. Lee, a British-Canadian-Taiwanese nonfiction author, has written a new book titled Dispersals. The book, out on Apr 25 in the UK (Hamish Hamilton) and available now in the US (Catapult), delves into the themes of plant life and human migration.

Lee, known for her curiosity and knowledge of the natural world, has a PhD in environmental history and aesthetics. In Dispersals, she interweaves personal memoir, family history, botany, cultural criticism, and first-hand observations of the natural world.

The book is a series of fourteen essays, each telling the border-crossing story of one particular type of flora and the various homo sapiens that have captured, cultivated, exploited, or admired it. One such chapter focuses on the cherry blossom, a symbol of beauty and cultural significance.

Berlin, a city often associated with greyness, is transformed into a vibrant pink city in the cherry blossom chapter. Lee explores the history and cultural significance of cherry blossoms, including their use as a diplomatic gesture and symbol of belonging. Many of the cherry blossoms in Berlin were gifted as diplomatic gestures by Japan.

The title "Dispersals" by Jessica J. Lee originates from the concept of dispersion, reflecting themes of migration, movement, and the scattering of people and cultures explored in the book. The title was chosen to cover all of the themes of the book, including belonging, cultural thinking, and the movement of seeds and spores.

Lee also founded and ran The Willowherb Review, an online magazine for nature writing by writers of color from 2018 to 2022. Over five years, the magazine published 70-something writers of color and reached over 70,000 readers. The magazine aimed to give a platform for writers of color to try out the genre and to explicitly showcase diverse voices in nature writing.

Jessica J. Lee will be reading at a book event on May 23 at the Lobe Canteen. For more information, visit the event's website.

In her nature writing, Lee brings her dual perspectives into the story, as both her own cultural baggage and the histories she explores are hers. Her approach in Dispersals is informed by her own family history as a person made by both the Orientalised and the Orientalisers. Lee also explores how much cultural baggage is put on seemingly insignificant, beautiful, and cheerful flora like cherry blossoms.

Dispersals traces the history of cherry blossoms from their association with poetic celebrations of spring, Japanese imperialism, and death, to their contemporary representation of diplomacy and friendship. It is a thought-provoking exploration of the intersection between plant life and human history, and a must-read for anyone interested in nature, culture, and history.

Activism lurks as a underlying element in Jessica J. Lee's nature-themed writing.