Wisconsin Author, Kathryn Gahl, will be here to discuss her books. The event will be facilitated by Sharon Reilly and will be held in the Feelings Room.

At age fifty, Kathryn Gahl left a career in nursing to study writing. Since then, her multi-genre works have appeared in many journals and won numerous awards, including the Lorine Niedecker Award, Wisconsin People and Ideas in Fiction and Poetry, and The Hal Prize in Fiction and Poetry plus finalist status for Non-Fiction.

Twice a Push Cart nominee, she served as Writer-in-Residence at Lakeland University and appeared ten times on Storycatchers live storytelling stage. She serves as reviewer for The American Journal of Nursing’s “Art of Nursing” section. Her books include Life Drawing Class (2009) and Messengers of the Gods: New and Selected Poems, a Portage Poetry Series Selection by Cornerstone Press (2022). Her memoirs are The Velocity of Love (2020) which received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association and The Yellow Toothbrush: A Memoir of Trauma and Mercy (2022) which is featured on Writer, Mother, Monster. Both books give breathtaking insights into abandonment, how motherhood can collapse into madness, and how it’s possible to live with deep grief when people choose compassion.

An avid ballroom dancer, Kathryn believes in the power of dark chocolate, deep sleep, and red lipstick. She lives in Wisconsin.