Kate Wheeler (born 1955 Oklahoma) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

and meditation teacher. Since 2016, she has served as the coordinator of the Meditation Retreat Teacher Training Program at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in

Woodacre, California Woodacre is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States. The population was 1,410 at the 2020 census. Geography The community is located at in the eastern half of the San Geronimo Valley ...

, where she trains senior students to be empowered as teachers. She also is a practicing Buddhist teacher and instructor that offers retreats, talks, and person guidance to communities and individuals. Wheller received a Pushcart Prize as well as two O. Henry Awards.

Life

She was raised in various parts of South America. She graduated from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

, and Stanford University. She was ordained a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

nun in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. She teaches at

Southwest Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

. She was a panelist at the

Key West Literary Seminar The Key West Literary Seminar is a writers' conference and festival held each January in Key West, Florida. It draws an international audience for readings, panel discussions, and workshops. History The Seminar was founded in 1983 by David Kaufe ...

. She is married and lives in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area o ...

Awards

* 1981 Second prize, Xerox-Atlantic Monthly American Short Story Contest * 1982 O. Henry Awards, for ''La Victoire'' * 1983 Pushcart Prize, for ''Judgment'' * 1992 '' The Best American Short Stories 1992'' * 1993 O. Henry Awards, for ''Improving My Average'' * 1993 PEN/Faulkner runner-up * 1994 Whiting Award * 1994 NEA Fellowship * 1996 Twenty best novelists under 40 in US, Granta * 1997 Best of Outside: the First 20 Years * 1998 Guggenheim Fellowship * 1999 Somerville Arts Council Grant * 2002 Best American Travel Writing * 2008 Best Women's Travel Writing * 2008 The Best Buddhist Writing * 2008 Radcliffe Institute Fellow

Works

* *

Editors

Anthologies

*"Contemporary Fiction: Granta's Best of the Young American Novelists " 1996 * * * * *

References

External links

Personal web pageProfile at The Whiting Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Kate 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Buddhist writers 1955 births American Buddhist nuns Living people Novelists from Oklahoma Rice University alumni Stanford University alumni National Endowment for the Arts Fellows 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners 20th-century Buddhist nuns