Praise for kathryn kruse’s Collection of short stories

“The stories in Kathryn Kruse’s collection startle with their attention to our most elemental selves: our bodies, our work, our health, our language. Shockingly accurate, bracingly funny, wonderful company all around.” —Juan Martinez, author of *Extended Stay*
“Read this book and be changed by it.” —Pablo Medina, author of *The Cuban Comedy*
“Kathryn Kruse’s new collection of stories is dizzying and provocative....Razor sharp writing...She never takes her foot off the gas, and, even at their darkest, every story is a dervish of fun!” —Jeff Parker, author of *Ovenman*
"As impossible to pick a favorite story as it is to pick the best leaf on a tree." - Eden Robins, author of *Remember You Will Die*
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What is going on here?

Call it Midwestern Gothic. Call it a book of stories that get a hold of your head and heart. Whatever you call it, To Receive My Services You Must Be Dying and Alone takes us to the edge of lived experience and guides us to look back in wonder at essential elements of humanness: hope, grief, confusion, joy. While the worlds and characters in each of these stories arrive fresh and distinct --- a woman drives through Central Illinois returning lost baggage, accompanied by her mother’s toothless mini-poodle; a couple finds their lives weighed with 3D printings of their fetus after a miscarriage; a rag-tag group spends every day together, up-skilling for promised minimum wage jobs in an abandoned and repurposed pharmacy, the shelves filled with out-dated stock --- we grab hold of a throughline: the book spills over with people building and breaking idols to find love and survival where they can. And we cheer them on at each step.

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About

I am a writer and educator living in Chicago. I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in English, Creative Writing and History. While living in the shocking Nevada desert, I also taught writing to college kids, served as the Graduate Writing Program Assistant Coordinator, founded and curated the Neon Lit reading series and ran various collaborative art projects. I write fiction and for performance, though other funny little things sometimes leak out.

I've had the opportunity to live on four continents in beautiful, fascinating cities and have a background in violence intervention and community organizing. With a focus on communication, non-traditional classrooms and nurturing creativity, I've worked as an educator, program developer and curriculum designer for a wide range of learners, from refugees learning language and culture to senior citizens learning computers. Supporting skill-building with health care providers is a special interest and talent.

Among other honors and awards, I am a St. Lawrence Book Award Finalist and recipient of a Disquiet International Literary Program scholarship.

My short story collection, “To Receive My Services You Must Be Dying and Alone” is forthcoming from Jackleg Press. Look for it in February, 2025.

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Teaching

Experience:

I have years of experience teaching and designing curriculum. The majority of my work has focused on writing and communication. I enjoy working in non-traditional educational environments and focus creating on student-centered, active, supportive, collaborative and creative spaces. I have had the opportunity to work with places like StoryStudio, The Escapery (non-traditional creative writing workshops), UNLV (writing and creative writing), JVS San Francisco (intensive communications training for return-to-work medical assistants and other individuals) and many other really delightful places.

Upcoming Workshops:

What: We Can Do an Hour Drop-in Workshop

When: Tuesdays 8:00-9:00 CST (ongoing)

Where: Join in-person (in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood) or On-line through Zoom

What’s this workshop all about? Writing is important. Developing and maintaining creative headspace is important. Let's help it happen! This workshop is about camaraderie. It’s filled with facilitated, generative writing exercises that explore craft elements. It is space to make a lot of work on new or existing projects. It is space to share work. This workshop is for anyone looking for a bit of creative inspiration or structure. This workshop is for people at all stages of their writing journey. It is aimed to be useful to people working on specific projects or looking to generate new work.

What Does “Drop-in” Mean?: The workshop meets every Tuesday. Come when you can!

How do I get more information or register? Please email: kathrynkruse18@gmail.com.

What: Creative Writing Essentials

When: Wednesdays, 6:30-9:00 pm (CT), September 18-November 6

Where: Online through StoryStudio Chicago

What’s this workshop all about? Come explore elements that live at the heart of fiction, non-fiction and poetry in this eight-session introduction to creative writing. Either as an introduction or a refresher, this class will guide you into the exciting and profound practice of writing. Write the things you have always wanted to write. Write the things you had no idea you needed to write. Creative Writing Essentials pairs strategies for generating and developing ideas with discussions of core principles of craft. Delightful generative prompts will help you get going and keep going, while we look at elements of writing that will help you shape your work. You will leave with lots of work as well as lots of methods for creating new work. You will be encouraged to work on fiction, non-fiction, poetry or any other writing that you want to investigate.

How do I register? Click here.

Writing coaching:

I provide 1:1 writing coaching for people who want support in developing their craft. I offer specifically designed exercises, critique, support, editing and, for those who find it helpful, deadlines. Please reach out if you are interested in having a bit more inspiration and support for your writing. We can make a plan. I'll send you an exercise. The first one is free.

Also. I write a heck of a wedding toast.

"That's the best toast I've ever heard." --caterer at a wedding in reference to a toast I gave.

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Works

My creative works, for the stage, page and gallery walls include:

Sex Ed. Jet Fuel Review. 2019.

Everything We Learn We Learn Again. McNeese Review. 2019.

The Printed Baby. Quiddity. 2018

Some poems. Interim. 2018

We Do Not Wish the Apocalypse. Rathalla Review. 2018

This postcard thing (you have to scroll down.) Inverted Syntax. 2018

The Camel. Action Fiction. 2017

Persephone or It Won't Be Summer until You Go to Your Room. San Francisco Olympians Festival. 2016

Psamathe. Performance Review, San Francisco Olympians Festival. 2015

Rashad Sees the Future. Aduna, 2015.

A Minium Wage Worker’s Bedtime Prayer. theEEEL. 2014.

Holy Palmer. Adirondack Review. 2014.

And with Such Great Effort to Achieve. Manchester Review.2013.

To Receive My Services You Must Be Dying and Alone. Indiana Review. 2013.

Why We Take Our Children West and Everything I Know. (with visual artist Andreana Donahue) 10x10 Invitational Exhibition. Vegas Valley Book Festival. 2012.

Downlands. SPECS Journal. 2011.

Construct. (with visual artist Brent Sommerhauser), Meridians (with visual artist Lindsay Berg), Sylvia (with visual artist Andreana Donahue). I Hope You Are Feeling Better Collaborative Exhibition. 2011.

Examples of non-fiction work upon request.

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Other Projects

A few other exciting projects that I'm working on:

Executive Director of Residency on the Farm, an annual, week-long residency for artists of all kinds. Located out in the rolling hills and sandstone bluffs of Southwest Wisconsin, people come and work really hard and eat great food.
Artistic Director, Facilitator and Designer of Tell Well, a writing workshop for healthcare professionals. This is a program designed to engage people in finding new ways to understand and communicate the complex experience of health provision.

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CONTACT

Reach me at kathrynkruse18@gmail.com

or

Click here: