Katherine Zlabek
Katherine Zlabek is the author of the story collection, WHEN, winner of The Journal’s 2018 Non/Fiction Collection Prize, which is available from the Ohio State University Press. In his review of WHEN, author Chris Bachelder writes “Katherine Zlabek is a writer with an honest style. Her prose is so clear that you can see the ache and hope simmering at the bottom of these stories. This is a sad, lovely, and utterly convincing collection.”
Zlabek’s stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals such as Boulevard, Kenyon Review, Ninth Letter, The Journal, The Literary Review, The Madison Review, and Story Quarterly. Her essay was chosen for StoryQuaterly’s 2019 Nonfiction Prize. Ricochet Editions published her chapbook, LET THE RIVERS CLAP THEIR HANDS, in 2015.
Zlabek’s writing is situated primarily in the Midwest and investigates working-class identity and spirituality. Her specializations provide a useful backdrop for conversations that are essential within a writing curriculum—conversations about the effects of lifestyle and the moral questions present in day-to-day life. She regards her students as writers and citizens and views the classroom as a community that works together to advance each individual. She has taught and lectured at many institutes such as Salisbury University, Gannon University, Marymount University, Florida International University, and many more.
Zlabek is a native of rural Wisconsin. She graduated with her BA from Augustana College and earned her MFA from Western Michigan University. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati where she was a Taft Dissertation Fellow, a senior editorial assistant with the Cincinnati Review, and a recipient of an AWP Intro Journals Award in 2012. Currently, she works as an Assistant Teaching Professor in writing and literature at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Updated June 2022