Kathryn Burak (born June 11, 1959) is an American young adult novelist.

Biography

She was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a coal miner and a seamstress. She received a BA in English from

Kutztown University Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (Kutztown University or KU) is a public university in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher ...

in Pennsylvania. and an MFA in poetry from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

. She is director of the Writing Program in the College of Communications at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. Her debut novel "Emily's Dress and Other Missing Things" (Roaring Brook Press ) is about a troubled young woman who moves to Amherst, Mass., after her mother's suicide, steals Emily Dickinson's dress from the poet's museum, and solves the mystery of her best friend's disappearance. A starred '' Booklist'' review described the novel as "a complete portrait of loss, longing, redemption and love," and the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' called it a "lyrical and erudite tribute to Amherst's most famous resident." The novel was nominated for an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

, named to the Independent Booksellers Association's New Voices list for 2012, and Southern Maine Library District's "Cream of the Crop" list of the best children's and young adult titles of 2012. Burak's poetry and short stories have appeared in the ''

Missouri Review ''The Missouri Review'' is a literary magazine founded in 1978 by the University of Missouri. It publishes fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction quarterly. With its open submission policy, ''The Missouri Review'' receives 12,000 manuscripts ...

'',

Fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

, ''Grey Sparrow'', ''Western Humanities Review,'' ''Gettysburg Review'' ''West Branch'', ''Yarrow'', and ''Seventeen''. She is also co-author of the writing textboo
''Writing in the Works''
(Cengage Learning ) She married Paul Makishima in 1987 and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burak, Kathryn 21st-century American novelists American women novelists American young adult novelists People from Shamokin, Pennsylvania Novelists from Pennsylvania Living people 1959 births 21st-century American women writers American women writers of young adult literature