Hi, I'm Kate.
Author of Kept Animals and the story collection If I'd Known You Were Coming. I'm also the founder of Story Therapy and mom to two people & one ridiculously adorable dog.
Kept Animals
A "rugged and ravishing" (Oprah Daily) debut set in 1990s Southern California, about unrequited love, family ties, and the devastating accident that changes everything. Named one of O, The Oprah Magazine's LGBTQ books that will change the literary landscape, and a most anticipated novel by Vogue, Parade, The Millions, and Electric Lit. A Reader's Digest Quarantine Book Club pick, longlisted for The Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize.
"Gorgeous, sensual...an event-packed novel of class, desire, [and] coming-of-age." — The New York Times Book Review
If I'd Known You Were Coming
Winner of the Iowa Award for Short Fiction, this collection of stories unflinchingly shows us what can happen when the uninvited guest of our darkest desires comes to call. Whether surrounded by the white noise of a Hollywood celebration or enduring a stark winter in Maine, the characters of If I'd Known You Were Coming yearn to heal old wounds with new hurts. With a wry wit and a keen eye for emotive detail, this unforgettable collection will leave you both winded and wanting more.
"[These] stories burn straight to the darkest places in our hearts, speaking aloud the thoughts we hardly dare to call our own." — Julie Orringer, author of The Flight Portfolio
Reading together?
A discussion guide is available for Kept Animals, and I am happy to join your reading group for a virtual discussion of my work.
Kate Milliken is the author of the novel Kept Animals, longlisted for The Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, and the story collection If I'd Known You Were Coming, winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award.
Before writing fiction, Kate wrote for commercial advertising and sat in television writers' rooms, working as a story editor. She left those roles to pursue her MFA at the Bennington Writing Seminars, and has since received fellowships and residencies from Ragdale, Yaddo, the Tin House Summer Writers' Workshop, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the Vermont Studio Center.
For nearly two decades, Kate has coached, edited, and taught other writers — work she now leads full-time through her editorial company, Story Therapy. From her own years as a student and a teacher, she saw how the classic "cone of silence" workshop could leave writers defeated, turning them into critics rather than authors. So she created The Author's Workshop™. This workshop method is informed by Matthew Salesses's Craft in the Real World, Felicia Rose Chavez's The Anti-Racist Workshop, and choreographer Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process®. The Author's Workshop gives writers a space to name their narrative intentions and then facilitate conversation that is insightful and constructive, so they leave their discussion energized and with clear direction toward making their best work.
Kate has taught on behalf of the UCLA Writers' Program, at conferences, as a visiting writer at the University of Michigan MFA, and on behalf of The Center for Fiction, where she first honed The Author's Workshop. Kate offers consultations to fellow teachers on implementing this method into their coursework, and writers can enroll in her workshops here.
Kate grew up bouncing between Chicago and Southern California, where she learned to ride horses in the hills of Topanga Canyon — the setting that would later inspire Kept Animals. After fifteen years in Northern California, Kate and her family moved back to the Midwest. She no longer rides horses, but volunteers regularly as an equine therapy lead.
Story Therapy
Developmental editing, coaching, and workshops for writers finding their way into their next story.
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