Beth Kephart, the award-winning author of 23 books of fiction and nonfiction, has chaired national literature juries; written about memoir and literature for the Chicago Tribune, The Millions, Huffington Post, and Wall Street Journal; and both presented keynotes and participated in panel discussions on behalf of the Moravian Writers’ Conference, the National Council of Teachers of English, the Decatur Book Festival, Bank Street, and the Fox Cities Book Festival, among many others.
BETH KEPHART
“THE IMPORTANT THING AS A TEACHER IS NEVER TO PIT STUDENTS AGAINST STUDENTS. THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO GAUGE—WITH GREATEST CARE—WHO EACH WRITER INDIVIDUALLY IS, WHAT HE OR SHE CAN DO, AND WHERE HE OR SHE MIGHT BE TAKEN.” – BETH KEPHART
As an adjunct teacher of creative nonfiction at the University of Pennsylvania, Beth is the recipient of the 2015 Beltran Family Award for Innovative Teaching and Mentoring. She was the 2013 Miami YoungArts Master Teacher and the inaugural Readergirlz Author in Residence. She has conducted workshops across the country in a variety of settings ranging from universities and high schools to community centers and literary festivals. She was named one of the 50 writers celebrated in the year-long Philadelphia’s Literary Legacy exhibit at the Philadelphia International Airport. She has been featured on the WHYY TV show Articulate, and her new book, Love: A Philadelphia Affair is the subject of a six-month display at the Philadelphia International Airport in 2016.
Beth is the author of Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir (Avery), winner of the 2013 Books for a Better Life Award (Motivational Category). Her sixth memoir is Nest. Flight. Sky.: On Love and Loss One Wing at a Time. Her new book, Wild Blues, is out in June 2018 from Atheneum/Simon & Schuster. Visit her at her website.
To hear more about how Beth approaches the writing and teaching of memoir, listen to this Life Story Coach podcast.
