Hello from Kendra!

Do you have a nickname?

Nothing that’s stuck.

What do you like to read?

Magical realism, particularly the contemporary American brand—Aimee Bender and Miranda July are my jam (++George Saunders, Kelly Link, Sherman Alexie, etc)—and literary fiction. I’m a youth librarian, so I also read heaps of YA (and picture books to my friends when we’ve been drinking—watch out).

What kind of stories do you write?

Weird, mostly. I hover around the intersection of lovely/funny/sad. Sometimes near apocalyptic mermaids.

How would you describe your personality?

Outgoing introvert (or maybe just a regular kinda ‘vert with a healthy dose of social anxiety). I have a tremendous fondness for kids and campiness and farmers’ markets and learning. I feel immensely alive when I’m outside or making something with my hands. I get really troubled by problems I can't solve (lately: rape culture). I have a propensity for blurting out my feelings. I wish I were less impatient. I believe deeply that life is amazing—hard and tricky and riddled with unfairness, but also insane and cool and beautiful and so terribly unlikely. I am so happy to be in it. I am so happy to be meeting you.

 What would you do this summer if you hadn't been accepted to Clarion?

Working in the teen centers in Austin’s public libraries, building an art car with my Burning Man camp, drafting a second novel.

Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?

My partner, Blake. We got engaged a week ago, and have been a socially unacceptable puddle of eye-gazing ever since; Clarion will force me back into a state of productivity, I hope.

(I’ve also got a pretty solid friend group in Austin who threatened to disown me for leaving for six weeks. TOO BAD YOU LIKE ME, SUCKERS.)

Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before?

No—I got my MFA in fiction, so I’m familiar with workshopping, but nothing so intensive as six weeks of day-in, day-out workshop. (Are we going to kill each other? I’m nervous that we’re going to kill each other.)

What scares you most about Clarion?

Honestly? That the other kids won’t like me—all of the first day of school stuff. Meeting new people is hard and scary!

I guess I ought to be worried about the fact that I’m really, really new to genre-writing, but everyone here seems like generous and forgiving people. As we must be: shitty drafts happen; we cannot be afraid to produce them or we will produce nothing.

What do you do to relax or for recreation?

Read, make lists, go on walks. I love letter-writing, crafting and baking (my mom’s a pastry chef—it’s really grounding for me). I have a lot of trouble doing nothing.

What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?

Camping hammock and a tea kettle.

What is your ideal career?

Teen or children’s librarian, cranking out novels on the side.

What else do you want us to know about you?

I get antsy if I’m indoors when the weather’s nice.

I’m moderately obsessed with mermaids.

I do a mean storytime.

ETA: I taught creative writing at an alternative high school for two years, and partway through, implemented a "self-deprecation" jar in my novel-writing class. The rule of the jar: if you say something bad about yourself or your work in class (that self-effacing, "Well, I was really tired when I wrote this/my characters are shit but/I'm not good at this but" kind of preface), then you have to write three nice things about yourself and put them in the jar.

I will cheerlead you with the heart of a dragon.

Beware.