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Photos: Min Jin Lee delivers 2026 Ellmann Lectures

March 19, 2026 Kate Sweeney

Min Jin Lee stands at a podium, smiling
Lee beamed at the audience after stepping onstage at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts on the first night of her visit.
President Sears stands at a podium
Leah Ward Sears, interim president of Emory, introduced Geraldine Higgins on the first night of the lectures. Higgins is the director of the Richard Ellmann Lectures in Modern Literature and the Irish Studies Program.
Geraldine Higgins introduces Lee
Geraldine Higgins introduced Lee on the first night of the lectures.
Lee, speaking at a podium, gesticulates with her hands
Lee delivers her first lecture in the series, entitled “The Education of a Writer.”
Audience members
The audience watched as Lee gave the first night’s lecture. Lee delivered all three lectures to a packed house.
Chris Suh stands at podium
Chris Suh, associate professor in the Department of History, introduced Lee on the second night of the lectures.
A spotlight shines on a podiu,m where Lee stands
At Lee’s second lecture, entitled “Writing American,” she discussed emigrating to the United States, learning English as a young child and her experiences as a Korean American writer.
Students chatting
About 80 students attended a reception and Q&A with Lee, moderated by Suh.
Lee, smiling widely
Lee laughs during an exchange with a student at the Q&A, which was co-presented by Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Emory Libraries and the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry.
Students watch attentively
Fox Center undergraduate fellows, two undergraduate classes and students representing various Korean, Asian and Asian Pacific Islander organizations attended the Q&A, along with students from the Emory Library Student Association.
Carla Freeman stands at a podium
Carla Freeman, director of the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry and Goodrich C. White Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, welcomed Lee and Tayari Jones in conversation the third night of Lee’s visit.
Jones and Lee sit in armchairs, talking
Jones joined Lee for a creativity conversation entitled “Writers and the World.” Jones is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory.
The two authors discuss
Creativity belongs to artists and non-artists alike, agreed Jones and Lee. Their conversation included a great deal of laughter, as well as more serious moments.
Authors chatting
Lee and Jones discussed the creative process and the ways that culture, geography and politics inflect their work.
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Min Jin Lee is the author of the acclaimed novels “Free Food for Millionaires” and “Pachinko” — a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist that was adapted into a streaming television series.

Lee reflected on the theme “Can Wisdom be Taught?” over three evenings of lectures and conversation at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts March 1-3, as Emory’s 2026 Richard Ellmann Lecturer in Modern Literature.

She also took part in a Q&A for students at the Michael C. Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall following her second lecture. Emory’s Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry houses the lectures.

A video recording of “Writers and the World,” Lee's Creativity Conversation with Tayari Jones, Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing, is available to view online. 

Lee will return to Emory in spring 2027 to deliver the McDonald Lectures at Candler School of Theology. 

Photos by Becky Stein Photography.

Resources

The Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry

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