Hi! I’m Katie.
Until pretty recently, I didn’t think there was anything interesting enough to write on a page like this about myself. But, then I went through some stuff, which helped me reflect on other stuff I’d survived and, after thinking about all this stuff, I realized I had a story to tell. Stories to tell. And, that we all have stories of beautiful, if somewhat broken, selves that for one reason or another have been silenced by others, and by ourselves. I want to help these stories emerge and transform the selves writing them and the selves reading them in the process.
Born and raised outside of Los Angeles, California, I grew up in the sun, but hate the beach. Through equal measures bad and good fortune, I had the opportunity to live and work outside of Oxford, England for nearly 7 years. Deciding to raise my first daughter in the sunshine brought me back to the City of Angels, at least temporarily.
I have 2 beautiful daughters and you had better believe they’re already breaking down walls, dismantling oppressive structures, and otherwise kicking ass and taking names. Just like their mama. We have 4 dogs because, well, dogs, and when we’re not shattering the boundaries trying to contain us, we’re running amuck at the dog park, parkouring on the living room sofas, or taking a well-earned snooze with our pup-of-choice.
I’m a literature nerd to the core. In 2010, I earned my PhD in 19th-century British literature, women’s writing, and justice from the University of London. By then, I’d already been at the helm of middle school, high school, and college English classrooms for 6 years. Combined, I’ve taught literature, composition, rhetorical strategies, and critical thinking courses for 20 years. It was in those spaces, and because of the students I’ve been privileged to walk alongside, that I honed my passion for social justice, becoming an ally for any learner in need of one and teaching them all to self-advocate in order to challenge limited and limiting social systems.
I never imagined that the little girl benched for punching someone in the gut who bullied her older brother because of his special needs would be where I am now. It never occured to me that the daughter of physically and emotionally abusive parents would grow into someone brave enough to break social silences and write out loud. I really believed the wife of a gambling addict experiencing emotional and financial abuse and betrayal, couldn’t walk away in a serene peace and begin the work that will shape her life going forward. But here I am. And, I want to share the beautifully bizarre experience of being grateful for having been broken. Thank you for joining me on my journey!
The beautiful art on this page is by one of my favorite artists and writers, Morgan Harper Nichols.