Elee Kraljii Gardiner is a writer, editor, and creative mentor living in Vancouver, Canada.

She is the author of two poetry books, Trauma Head, winner of the Cogswell Award for Literary Excellence, and serpentine loop, nominated for the Souster Award.

She is also the editor of the anthologies Against Death: 35 Essays on Living and V6A: Writing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with John Asfour. She holds an MA in Hispanic Literature from University of British Columbia and an MFA in Poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts. 

A frequent collaborator with choreographers, musicians, and visual artists, Elee is currently collaborating with nature via a series of durational art installations that investigate the law of thermodynamics and cultural ideas regarding the passing of time. She is a director of Vancouver Manuscript Intensive, a program pairing authors with mentors, and beginning in January 2025 will be the Poet Laureate of Vancouver.

Trauma Head

Published in 2018 (1st and 2nd printing) by Anvil Press

“A startling and exquisite sequence of poems. The ‘unspeakable’ reflected is intensely fierce and sublimely sensual. Difficult, devastating, and meticulously crafted, this work is a rewarding chronicle of persistence through the trauma of recovery and return.” – Sandra Ridley

“A collection of poems you don’t dip in and out of, but fall fully into, read from beginning to end, go back and read again.” – BC Booklook

“Remarkable second collection” – Toronto Star

  • Winner of 2019 Fred Cogswell Award for Literary Excellence 
  • Nominated for the 2019 Raymond Souster Award

Reviewed in: Ottawa Review of Books, Rob Mclennan’s blog, Toronto Star, BC Review

serpentine loop

Published in 2016 (1st ed), 2017 (2nd ed) by by Anvil Press

“The ice itself becomes a character in the poems, acting both as antagonist (when the poet falls through the ice) and as muse (the precise joy of skating).” – Canadian Literature review

“…an exploration of the form’s expressions in unexpected ways, both visually and sensually, in emotion and language, to say the shape of a poem deepens, taking on all these levels at once, becomes a singular experience in itself.” – Debutantes

“[this] lush, piercing collection is layered with climatological subtext and personal history.” – Amber Tamblyn

“In its empathy and compassion, the collection elevates readers to touch and grasp their own “defiant act of communion,” to weave magic until the desire for recip- rocal, meaningful connection transcends isolation. Insightful and concise all at once.” – Canadian Poetry Review

“The poetry itself has a serpentine quality, moving around and twisting back upon itself in a way that is both jarring and graceful…cooly poignant.” – Pacific Rim Review of Poetry

Reviewed by: Bust, Canadian Literature, Canadian Poetry Review, Herizons

Against Death Anthology

Published in 2019 (1st ed), 2020 (2nd ed) by Anvil Press

“An upending and beautifully curated anthology of personal essays and poetry that focus on the bravery and grit needed to accept life and death.” – Sad Mag

  • Finalist for the 2019 Montaigne Medal (US)
  • Finalist for the 2019 Eric Stamper Award (US)

Reviewed by: Under Review CiTR, Sad Mag, BC Review, Vancouver Magazine

V6A: Writing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

Coedited with John Mikhail Asfour
Published 2012 (1st ed. and 2nd printing) by Arsenal Pulp Press

  • Finalist for City of Vancouver Book Award, 2012

Reviewed by: Rabble, BC Studies, Vancouver is Awesome, Spacing, Jacket 2, The Tyee