Tanith Lee was one of the most acclaimed, notable and prolific British authors of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Since the beginning of her literary career in 1968, she wrote nearly 70 novels (including works of fantasy for young adults), hundreds of short stories, multiple collected works, poems, and essays. She even dabbled in television, having written two episodes of the British science-fiction cult show Blake's 7.

Lee was born in London, England, on September 19, 1947. She began writing at the age of 9, despite suffering from dyslexia that prevented her from reading well. She attended Croydon Art College for a year after high school and then worked a variety of odd jobs for a number of years while she tried to build a writing career. Her first actual sale of work came in 1968, with the publication of "Eustace", a 90-word vignette that appeared in The Ninth Pan Book Of Horror Stories. In 1971 Macmillan published her first novel, a young adult fantasy entitled The Dragon's Hoard. Lee's first work for adults was the novel The Birthgrave, published by DAW in 1975 and the first of an eventual trilogy.

Over the course of her storied career, Lee produced a dizzying variety of works, which include the famed Tales From The Flat Earth series (1978-1987, with additional short stories from 1998-2009); The Secret Books of Paradys series (1988-1993); the Unicorn Series (1991-1997); the Blood Opera Sequence (1992-1994); the historical novel The Gods Are Thirsty (1996); and The Secret Books of Venus (1998-2003). Lee's work is noted for her lush, lyrical, and sensual tones, as well as frequent themes of darkness and eroticism.

Lee also received multiple accolades for her work. She won the 1980 British Fantasy Award for Best Novel for Death's Master (the 2nd in her Tales From The Flat Earth series), becoming the first woman to win this award. She also won the 1983 World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction for "The Gorgon," that same award in 1984 for "Elle Est Trois, Le Mort", and the 2013 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. In addition, she received multiple nominations for Nebula Awards, World Fantasy Awards, Locus Poll Awards, British Fantasy Awards, and others. In 2015 she was awarded the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Horror Writers Association.

Tanith Lee married John Kaiine in 1992. She passed away from breast cancer on May 24, 2015.