“From the serenity of a kayaking-on-the-lake moment to fragmenting struggles with self-criticism, Kephart deftly and succinctly captures entire expanses of human experience.” — Booklist, Starred Review
VISIT THE HUSH AND THE HOWL (Substack)
life. literature. art.
Books and Awards
As the author of nearly forty books in multiple genres, Beth Kephart has been named a National Book Award finalist as well as a winner of the Pew Fellowships in the Arts grant, a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Leeway grant for Creative Nonfiction, a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Top Fiction grant, and the Speakeasy Poetry Prize, among other honors. Her books have received multiple starred reviews, been named to Best of Year lists, and been translated into more than fifteen languages. Continue Reading
Teaching and Workshops
Beth is an award-winning teacher at the University of Pennsylvania. She was the 2013 Master Writing Teacher for National YoungArts, is a co-founder of Juncture Workshops, has delivered keynote addresses on the art of teaching, has led teach-the-teacher sessions, and has taught writers of all ages in a variety of settings. She has published a number of books on the teaching of memoir—Handling the Truth, Tell the Truth. Make It Matter., Strike the Empty, We Are the Words: The Memoir Master Class—and writes a monthly educational newsletter, Juncture Notes. Continue Reading
Essays, Reviews, and Interviews
Beth’s essays, interviews, and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Normal School, Ninth Letter, Orion, The Boston Globe, CRAFT, North American Review, Tin House, LitHub, Salon, The Millions, Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post, Family Circle, Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, Cleaver, and Woven Tale Press, among many other publications. Frequently anthologized, her work has appeared in Best American Sports Writing, Mothers Who Think, Big Shoes, and New York Times Writers on Writing. Continue Reading
News and Events
Beth has appeared as a guest on numerous TV and radio shows as well as literary panels. She and her artist husband make and sell handmade books. She has frequently presented keynote addresses and talks.
"Kephart is a linguistic Midas—everything she puts to paper is golden."
Books— Darcy Jacobs, Family Circle
Beth Bio
Beth Kephart, the award-winning author of more than three-dozen books of fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, has chaired national literature juries; written about memoir and literature for national publications; interviewed some of the most exquisite writers among us (see below); and both presented keynotes and participated in literary events across the country.
Her substack, The Hush and the Howl, features new writing on life and literature, alongside new art.
Beth’s first novel for adults, Tomorrow Will Bring Sunday’s News: A Philadelphia Story (Tursulowe Press, 2025), received a starred Booklist review and was called “staggeringly beautiful” by Small Picks Press.
Recent memoir work includes Wife | Daughter | Self: A Memoir in Essays (Forest Avenue Press) and My Life in Paper: Adventures in Ephemera (Temple University Press).
Recent memoir craft books can be found at Juncture Workshops.
Recent novels for young readers include Cloud Hopper (co-winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, 7-12 grades), The Great Upending (a 2020 Parents’ Choice Gold Medal Winner), and Wild Blues (a Junior Library Guild Selection).
Picture book stories/biographies/histories include: Trini’s Big Leap (illustrated by William Sulit), And I Paint It: Henriette Wyeth’s World (illustrated by Amy June Bates), Beautiful Useful Things (illustrated by Melodie Stacey), A Room of Your Own: A Story Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Famous Essay (illustrated by Julia Brekenreid), Good Books for Bad Children: The Genius of Ursula Nordstrom (illustrated by Chloe Bristol), and Mud Angels, forthcoming, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti), among others.