Kalela Williams

Hi there! A little about me: I’m a proud auntie, a cat mama, and now—though it’s hard to believe—an author.

I’ve been writing since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I’ve wanted to be a novelist for as long as I knew that people could write as their job.

I’ve also been really lucky to have worked in literary public programs for more than fifteen years. I direct a statewide book festival, and I’ve also held leadership roles at the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Center for Public Life and its One Book, One Philadelphia program; the youth organization Mighty Writers, and Furious Flower Poetry Center.

I’m a graduate of Tri-Cities High School in College Park, Georgia; the University of Mary Washington, and Goddard College, where I earned my Masters of Fine Arts (MFA).

My creative work has appeared in Drunken Boat, Calyx: A Journal of Art and Literature by Women, and other literary magazines, with my poem “Braiding Hair” once featured on a BBC Radio 4 episode. I’ve been a recipient of the Fine Arts Work Center’s Archie D. and Bertha H. Walker Scholarship, a Tin House residency, and an Elizabeth George Foundation grant.

History and heritage are key in my life and imagination. I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where trips to museums, the library, and used bookstores with my mom and siblings taught me to love reading, and to always be curious. Summers spent with my grandparents in South Carolina gave me a love of discovering my lineage: both my direct family lines and the African diaspora (a “diaspora” is the movement of folks from a particular homeland).

I now live in the small, super-cute and artsy town of Staunton Virginia. You should visit one day! I share an apartment in a beautiful old Victorian house with my partner, Davey Strattan White, and a few days a week I commute to my office at Virginia Humanities in Charlottesville. At home, I stay busy by adding to my community’s arts scene through our story-centered organization, The Off Center; sharing my love of the past in programs and events as “Black History Maven,” as well as by keeping our three cats happy, spending time outdoors, and nerding out at historic sites. And writing, of course—always writing!