Beth Kephart is an American author of non-fiction, poetry and

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

for adults and teens. Kephart has written and published over ten books and has received several grants and awards for her writing. She was a

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

Finalist for her book ''"A Slant of the Sun: One Child’s Courage."'' She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and son. She is a writing partner in the

marketing communications Marketing Communications (MC, marcom(s), marcomm(s) or just simply communications) refers to the use of different marketing channels and tools in combination.Tomse, & Snoj, 2014 Marketing communication channels focus on how businesses communicate ...

firm, Fusion Communications, and occasionally teaches and lectures at the University of Pennsylvania. Kephart was first published in "Iowa Woman" magazine and has said that she was writing poems from the time she was quite young, and that she was very influenced by music and the sound of words. In a HarperCollins interview, she stated: "I loved to sing. I loved to perform, with my brother and sister, to the sound tracks of

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and ...

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...

or Windjammer. I always had rhymes sliding around in my head. So that even as I got older, I would return to

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

and

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

to see how they created what they created. I would read

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

and

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

and

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...

, also, to learn about how words fit together. And then, of course, there was ''Black Beauty.''" mphasis added Kephart is a graduate of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and was a participant at the Bread Loaf Writing Conference,

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History. History One of ...

, with Jayne Anne Phillips; 1996 Prague Writing Conference,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

with

William Gass William Howard Gass (July 30, 1924 – December 6, 2017) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic, and philosophy professor. He wrote three novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven vol ...

and Jayne Anne Phillips; and 1995 Spoleto Writing Conference, Spoleto, Italy with Rosellen Brown and Reginald Gibbons, 1994. Kephart is considered to be a prolific writer and reviewer and has penned reviews and essays for various publications, including: * ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' * ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' * ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

'' * ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' * Book World * ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' Europe * ''Philadelphia'' (magazine) * ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' * ''

Family Circle ''Family Circle'' was an American magazine that covered such topics as homemaking, recipes, and health. It was published from 1932 until the end of 2019. Originally distributed at supermarkets, it was one of the " Seven Sisters," a group of se ...

'' * ''

Parenting Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a ...

'' * ''

Real Simple ''Real Simple'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. The magazine features articles and information related to homemaking, childcare, cooking, and emotional well-being. The magazine is distinguished by its clean, unclut ...

'' * ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'' * ''New Jersey Life'' * ''

Pennsylvania Gazette ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' was one of the United States' most prominent newspapers from 1728 until 1800. In the several years leading up to the American Revolution the paper served as a voice for colonial opposition to British colonial rule, ...

'' * ''Main Line Today'' ''Undercover'', her first book for

young adults A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

, was named a 2007 best book of the year by Amazon.com, Kirkus, and

School Library A school library (or a school library media center) is a library within a school where students, staff, and often, parents of a public or private school have access to a variety of resources. The goal of the school library media center is to e ...

Journal.

Honors and awards

* Speakeasy Poetry Prize (2005) * Pew Fellowships in the Arts (2005) * BookSense Pick (2005) *

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Grant (2000) * Leeway Grant for

Creative Nonfiction Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction or literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contra ...

(1998) * Salon Best Book of the Year (1998) * National Book Award, Nonfiction Finalist (1998) * Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Top Fiction Grant (1997) * Bread Loaf Merit Scholar for Fiction (1996)

Bibliography

* ''Dangerous Neighbors'', Laura Geringer Books: HarperTeen, 2010 * Anderson, M. T., K. L. Going, Beth Kephart, and Chris Lynch, ''No Such Thing as the Real World,'' HarperTeen, 2010 * ''The Heart is Not a Size'', Laura Geringer Books: HarperTeen, 2009 * ''House of Dance'', Laura Geringer Books: HarperTeen, 2008 * ''Zenobia: The Curious Book of Business'', Berrett-Kohler, 2008 * ''Undercover'', Laura Geringer Books: HarperTeen, 2007 * ''Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia’s

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

'',

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

Press, 2007 * ''Ghosts in the Garden: Endings, Beginnings, and the Unearthing of Self'', New World Library, 2005 * ''Big Shoes: In Celebration of Dads and Fatherhood,

Al Roker Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's ''Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an ina ...

and Friends'', Hyperion, 2005 * '' Because I Said So'', HarperCollins, 2005 * ''Seeing Past Z: Nurturing the Imagination in a Fast-Forward World'', W.W. Norton, 2004 * ''Best American

Sports Writing Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the ...

'', Houghton Mifflin, 2003 * ''New York Times Writers on Writing, Volume II'', Times Books, 2003 * '' The Kindness of Strangers'',

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked ...

, 2003 * ''Still Love in Strange Places: A Memoir'', W.W. Norton, 2002 * ''Best American Sports Writing'', Houghton Mifflin, 2001 * ''Wanderlust: Real-Life Tales of Adventure and Romance'', 2000 * ''Into the Tangle of Friendship: A Memoir of the Things that Matter'',

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, 2000 * ''Mothers Who Think'', Villard, 1999 * ''The Leap Years'',

Beacon Press Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as James B ...

, 1999 * ''A Slant of Sun: One Child's Courage'', W.W. Norton, 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kephart, Beth American women novelists 1960 births Living people Pew Fellows in the Arts University of Pennsylvania alumni 20th-century American novelists American young adult novelists American women poets 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets Women writers of young adult literature