Memoir & Essay
Kathy writes memoir and essays that explore themes of grief, healing, connection, step-motherhood, failure, solace, and self-invention. She was recognized as a 2012 Kresge Artist Fellow in Literary Arts, and she won the 2018 Michigan Writers Chapbook Contest for her memoir, Ink.
Ink: A Memoir
If you read it, it will stick in your mind for a good while, precisely because it is not bloated, self-indulgent, loaded with attitudinizing. It has an arc you can hold in your imagination and rotate, thinking about it from different angles.
Why She Hates Me
from Bateau 8.1, 2018
I’ve always kept it secret, how many of her secrets I’ve always known.
“She refused to have sex on our wedding night,” he told me, the day we shared a brown bag lunch in his office. He stared into the distance as he spoke, and I could see the grief hover around his silhouette like motes of dust…..
Under Water
fromThe Sun Magazine, March 2017
The earnest therapist listened with detachment as I struggled with my misery and self-loathing. Then she asked the obvious question: “What if he doesn’t leave his wife?”
I had no answer.
In the tub I took a deep breath and sank entirely underwater. Had I lost my sense of right and wrong?
Baby
from Blackberry Winter, Winter 2018
When we collected Elizabeth from daycare that first snowy day, Puddin was waiting at home to greet her. “Baby!” she squealed, tottering across the room with open arms. “I have a baby!” It was love at first sight.
Creative Writing
Book
Ink: A Memoir, published by the Michigan Writers Cooperative Press; winner of the 2018 Michigan Writers Chapbook Contest
Essays
“Why She Hates Me,” Bateau 8.1, 2018
“Baby,” Blackberry Winter, Winter 2018
"Under Water," The Sun Magazine, March 2017
“Pregnant.” The Bear River Review 2013
“Transit.” The Bear River Review 2012