Kristen Caven is devoted to writing well: in the sense of excellence of expression—and also for wellness, for healing, to make sense of and straighten out a broken world full of broken minds.
Notoriously Prolific and facile, Kristen writes books, blogs, short stories, articles, essays, cartoons and comics, plays, marketing copy, slogans, newsletters, manifestos, bad jokes, bylaws, musicals, specializing in names and neologisms. Give her an idea and she’ll find the right words for it. Give her some words…and she’ll find better ones.
Everything is writing.
The books. The shows. The choreography. The plans. Even every picture tells a story!
Kristen is the daughter of a writer, the mother of a writer, and married to a writer. Writing is a central part of her intense and sometimes astonishing life. When she doesn’t write, she isn’t well. (When she doesn’t write well—well, that’s a deep subject.)
Kristen’s short stories, articles, essays, cartoons, and comics have been published in Oakland Unseen, Oakland Tribune, The Monthly, Rudolf’s Diner, Doorknobs and Body Paint, Synchronized Chaos, Full of Crow, The Sophisticate, and The Good Men Project. Awards include: Ardella Mills Essay Prize, Bay Guardian Cartoon Contest—collection category; Writer’s Network screenplay & fiction competition (quarterfinalist), and the Aluminous Flash Mob Play Festival.
Kristen is also passionate about nurturing good writing in others—mentoring, editing, designing, publishing, producing and promoting.
Associations & Instigations: BookPeople, Uplift Press, Little Pig Productions, California Writers Club Berkeley Branch (currently president), Mills College Writers Café, Bay Area Generations, and the Writing Well.