Min Jin Lee is a Korean-American author whose work frequently explores the Korean diaspora. She is based in Harlem, New York City. Lee is best known for her novels Free Food for Millionaires, published in 2007, and Pachinko, released in 2017. Pachinko was a finalist for the National Book Award and runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. In 2019, Lee became a writer-in-residence at Amherst College in Massachusetts. She is working on a third novel as part of her Korean quartet, titled American Hagwon, which is scheduled for release on September 29, 2026.