1. Career
     Reception for Eggshell Skull  

2. Awards

3. References

Brianna “Bri” Lee (born 13 December 1991) is an Australian writer, editor and women’s rights activist based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. She is best known for her 2018 memoir Eggshell Skull^[1] that describes her experience as a complainant in the Australian court system for sexual abuse as a child by a family friend. Lee is the founder and editor of quarterly periodical Hot Chicks with Big Brains ^[2] and has made frequent appearances on the Australian literary circuit including the Brisbane Writer’s Festival^[3] and Melbourne Writer’s Festival.^[4] Lee spent as year as a judge’s associate for the District Court of Queensland and is qualified to practise law but chooses not to. She is the proud parent to two guinea pigs, Eddie and Louis.

Career

Lee studied Law at the University of Queensland. In 2015 Lee was a judge’s associate in Brisbane, Queensland. During her year in the position, she assisted her judge with court proceedings and made notes during trials at the Brisbane court house, and on circuit to rural areas of Queensland.

Her first book Eggshell Skull was published by Allen and Unwin in early 2018. The memoir spans three years from her first case as an associate and the two-year process of having her own complaint filed through the Australian justice system. Lee recounts the trauma of being sexually assaulted as a child by her brother’s friend on the trampoline in her back yard. Lee did not admit that she was a victim of abuse until adulthood. The book contains numerous examples of sexism and a bias against women in complaints of sexual assault and harassment, with the majority of cases ending in a not guilty verdict despite truthful witness testimonies. In the book, Lee cites her first example of a historic abuse case with a male complainant as the reason she decided to make an official report to the police for her own assault. “He’d used the world ‘lighter’. I wanted ‘lighter’. I wanted to be able to let it go, to move on.”^[5]. Although Lee’s assaulter admitted the offence on a recorded pretext phone call, the trial was continuously delayed for two years. Speaking at the University of Queensland Lee stated that she was concerned that any further delay would coincide with the publisher’s deadline for Eggshell Skull, which she was writing contemporaneously to the case. In December 2017, Lee succeeded in winning the case on two accounts of indecent treatment of a child.

The book’s title is derived from the legal doctrine eggshell skull that states the court must take the victim as they find them. If Person A struck Person B on the head meaning only to punch but instead fatally wounded them because Person B’s skull is as thin and fragile as an eggshell, Person A is responsible for the damage that they have caused. Lee’s title subverts this maxim; the court takes her as a victim who is determined for justice and understands her rights within the complexities of the law.^[6]

Hot Chicks with Big Brains is a Publication for Women who Work was founded in 2015 to promote diverse non-fiction writing from working women. It is published quarterly and distributed worldwide.

Lee is currently working on her second book; a collection of essays about the struggles of perfectionism. The publication date is unconfirmed.

Reception for Eggshell Skull

The portrayal of Lee in public appearances and interviews can be separated into two distinct categories: Bri Lee the sexual assault survivor, and Bri Lee the writer. In an interview with Australian network ABC about the #MeToo movement, Lee was questioned on why she wrote the book and not the process of how she wrote it.^[7] She spoke about the other women that were assaulted, hoping that she would inspire them to speak out also. Lee's writing has also been discussed in a literary capacity. One example of this is Sydney-based Newtown Review of Books, who focus on the symbolism of the Hills Hoist throughout the text and praise Lee's unique and fresh perspective in her narrative voice.^[8]

Awards

References

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