Bringing Characters From The Shadows

“Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, I've never had the sense I was 'making up' a character. It feels more like watching people reveal themselves, ever more deeply, more intimately.” – Kathryn Harrison

Born in Los Angeles on this date in 1960, Harrison earned degrees at both Stanford and the University of Iowa, where she first studied in that school’s famed Writers’ Workshop.  Her debut novel, Thicker Than Water, was an instant success and paved the way for a career that (to date) includes 7 novels, 2 memoirs, 2 collections of personal essays, a travelogue, 2 biographies, and a book of true crime. 

      Almost as well known for her personal essays – which have been included in many anthologies as well as in such leading magazines as Harper's, The New Yorker and Vogue – she also is regularly seen as a reviewer for The New York Times Book Review.   Now a full-time resident of New York City, she shares her writing skills by teaching memoir writing at the City University of New York’s Hunter College as part of their Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing. 

“I admire writers who succeed at what I consider the first demand of art: that the artist vivisect himself without pity, without hesitation, determined to reveal whatever he might find.”

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