About
Kathi grew up in Houston, not too far from the Houston Ship Channel, and graduated from Spring Branch High School, home of the Bears, where she played flute in the marching band and tried to play the oboe in the concert band. Later, she graduated from Texas A&M University and did graduate studies at The University of Iowa.She later studied writing with Elizabeth Harper Neeld, Paul Christiansen, Venkatesh Kulkarni, and Dennis Foley.
She is married to Ken, a researcher in adult literacy at Texas A&M and a musician. Together they have two grown sons, Jacob and Cooper. Both of them are musicians too. They also share their home with four cats: Jazz, Hoss, D’jango, and Peach. She and Ken are long-time members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Brazos Valley, where Ken sings in the choir and Kathi serves as a trustee.
Kathi Appelt is the author of over thirty books for children and young adults. She has taught creative writing to both children and adults and currently serves on the faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts in their MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. She also teaches an occasional course in creative writing at her alma mater, Texas A&M University.
Her books have won numerous national and state awards, including the Irma and Simon Black Award, Children’s Choice Award, Teacher’s Choice Award, the Oppenheimer Gold Award, Parent’s Choice Award, Storytelling World Award, Growing Good Kids Award, the Teddy Award, the Texas Institute of Letters Award, Best Books for Young Adults, VOYA Top of the Shelf Award, and a host of others.
Other awards in her lifetime include:
* C.K. Esten Award for outstanding student in Theater Arts, Texas A&M University, 1975.
* Sue German Award for Excellence in Teaching, Awarded by the New Jersey Writing Project in Texas, Houston, TX 1997.
* Women Who Make a Difference, Awarded by the Brazos Maternal and Child Health Clinic, Bryan+College Station, TX 2001.
Kathi is a highly sought-after speaker in schools, conferences and workshops. She is also a member of The Poetry Girls, a group of four women who meet to write poetry and share a brew. Their first book, “The Poetry Girls,” was published by Unicorn Press in 2006.