Kate Gale

Kate Gale is an American poet, librettist, and independent publisher.

Life

Kate Gale was born in Binghamton, New York to Stephen Gale and Evadene Swanson. Her father, Stephen Gale teaches at the University of Pennsylvania in the Political Science department. Her mother and sister live in a closed community known as the Jolly Farmer. Her maternal grandfather Gustav Swanson taught at Cornell University from 1948 to 1966.

Kate Gale grew up in New Hampshire until age eighteen at High View Church Farm also known as the Jolly Farmer, a closed Christian community founded by George Eversfield. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Arizona State University where she studied with Norman Dubie and Peggy Shumaker in 1987 and moved to California to study poetry with Benjamin Saltman. She received an MA in English with a creative writing emphasis from California State University Northridge in 1990 and a Ph. D in English from Claremont Graduate University in 2003.

She married Jerry Harper at 24, and they had two children Amy Harper, born 1989 and Stephen Harper, born 1991 before separating in 1994. Their divorce was final in 1995. The two remained friendly and raised their kids together.

Career

The founding of Red Hen Press in 1994 with Mark E. Cull, whom she married in 2000, was the turning point of Kate’s life. The press was started as a collective and began to publish Kate and her fellow writers: Marlene Joyce Pearson, Ricardo Means Ybarra, Benjamin Saltman and Angela Ball. Later the press was reorganized as a non-profit 501(c)3 and began to build community in Los Angeles. In the wake of the closing of Black Sparrow Press and Sun and Moon, Red Hen Press became the independent press in Southern California publishing twenty titles a year of poetry, literary fiction and non-fiction. Red Hen Press established a Writing in the Schools Program funded by the city, the county, Ahmanson, Dwight Stuart Foundation, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Their reading series at the Ruskin Art Club and the Geffen Playhouse hosts such writers as Carolyn See, John Rechy, C.D. Wright, Li-Young Lee, Joy Harjo, Chris Abani, Al Young, Robert Scheer, Paul Cummins, and Marvin Bell. Building community in Los Angeles allowed Kate to live life as a literary provaceteur, hosting and creating change in literary life. Kate lives in Los Angeles with her husband Mark E. Cull and two of their children. Kate travels with Mark to research for her writing to Central America, the Yucatán, Chiapas and Spain. She is the Managing Editor of Red Hen Press, the Editor of the Los Angeles Review and the President of the American Composers Forum Los Angeles. She is the 2005-2006 President of PEN USA and serves on the Board of A Room of Her Own Foundation.

Works

Kate Gale’s work began with "Blue Air" a book of poetry published by publisher Nicholas Campbell of Garden Street Press, San Luis Obispo. She published three collections of poetry with Red Hen Press, "Where Crows and Men Collide", "Selling the Hammock" and "Fishers of Men". "Mating Season", appeared from Tupelo Press in 2004. She has written the librettos to two operas. "Rio de Sangre" with composer Don Davis was showcased at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2005 and by the New York City Opera VOX in May 2007. "Paradises Lost", co-written with Ursula K. LeGuin with composer Stephen Taylor was showcased at the New York City Opera VOX in 2006.

Awards

* Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award
* Claremont Graduate University Fellowship
* Mitchell Lathrop Fellowship

Public Speaking

Kate speaks widely on independent publishing and how writers can move toward being published authors. Her readings and public speaking events include:

1/6/2005 Business of Words Radio Show Interview/reading
1/11/2005 Coffee Cartel Featured Reading
2/12/2005 Business of words radio Speaking
2/12/2005 GA Writers Writing Workshop
2/13/2005 Java Monkey Series Reading
2/13/2005 GA Writers Reading
2/14/2005 Spelman College Workshop
2/25/2005 Barnes & Noble Poem X
3/18/2005 University of Virginia Bookstore Featured Reading
3/19/2005 Gravity Lounge Publishing Panel
3/19/2005 Charlottesville Ice Park Writing Children's Books
3/20/2005 Tupelo Press Offices Real World Strategies for Success
3/31/2005 AWP 2005 Book Signing at Tupelo Table
3/31/2005 AWP 2005 Raise the Roof Reading
3/31/2005 AWP 2005 Running the Successful Reading Series
4/8/2005 Beyond Baroque Mischief Anthology Reading
4/11/2005 Swedish Consulate Residence Beyond Blond 2005
4/16/2005 KFAI - Write on Radio Radio Phone Interview
4/23/2005 LA Times Book Festival Poetry Stage
4/30/2005 Mountain Writer's Center Publishing Workshop
5/1/2005 Elliott Bay Book Company Featured Reading
5/2/2005 KBOO Radio Show Taping
5/2/2005 Twenty Third Ave- Books Featured Reading
5/6/2005 Las Positas College Publishing Workshop
5/9/2005 Bird & Beckett Books & Music Featured Reading
5/15/2005 Amazon Bookstore Featured Reading
5/17/2005 PEN USA Emerging Voices Q&A
7/9/2005 Skylight Books Ghettoization of Women's Literature
7/28/2005 Napa Valley Writer's Conference Publishing Panel
9/6/2005 UCLA Extension UCLA Extension Workshop
10/2/2005 West Hollywood Book Fair Political Poetry Panel
10/2/2005 West Hollywood Book Fair Marketing Toolbox Panel
11/6/2005 Walt Disney Music Center Rio de Sangre Opera Premiere
11/9/2005 Millennium Biltmore Hotel PEN Literature Festival
11/11/2005 33 1/3 Books and Gallery Reading with Christopher Jarmick
11/12/2005 Dutton's Brentwood Featured Reading
12/17/2005 Richard Beban's House Writer's Workshop
1/11/2006 KPFK Poets Café Reading
1/22/2006 Cody's Books Featured Reading
1/26/2006 Antioch University Antioch Reading Series
2/2/2006 Albany Library Albany Reading Series
2/3/2006 Esalon Institute Esalon Institute Workshop
2/12/2006 Good Luck Bar Rhapsodomancy
2/14/2006 Dutton's Brentwood Valentine's Reading
2/25/2006 Sea Breeze Gallery Rhythm and Words
3/2/2006 Whidbey Island Whidbey Conference
3/8/2006 AWP AWP
3/29/2006 Labyrinth Books Kate Gale and Jason Schniederman
3/30/2006 Bowery Poetry Club Kate Gale and Kurt Brown
4/4/2006 Cobalt Café Cobalt Café
4/18/2006 UCLA Master Class - Workshop
4/21/2006 Sunland Tujunga Library Eccentric Moon Poetry Series
10/20/2006 Emerson Conference Emerson Conference
10/22/2006 Grub Street Café Seminar
10/25/2006 Cornelia Street Cafe Reading (Moderator)
11/6/2006 San Diego State University NBCC Panel Discussion/Reading
1/13/2006 Stonecoast Conference Stonecoast Conference
1/17/2007 Books a Million Featured Reading
2/21-27/2007 Ghost Ranch Writer's Conference Ghost Ranch Writer's Conference
2/28-3/3/2007 AWP 2007 AWP 2007
3/5/2007 WriteLines Workshop
3/6/2007 Boston University Featured Reading
6/8-12/2007 Katchemak Bay Writer's Conference
6/19-23/2007 Ghost Ranch Bay Writer's Conference
7/23-27/2007 University of Nebraska Low Residency
9/18/2007 Santa Monica College Literary Series/ Reading
10/17/2007 University of Nebraska Presentation
11/05-09/2007 Spalding University Low Residency
1/4-6/2008 Esalen Institute Workshop
1/30-2/2/2008 AWP Conference Writers’ Conference
2/8/2008 PEN/USA Writers’ Toolbox Moderator
2/21-23/2008 Desert Nights Rising Stars Writers’ Conference
2/28/2008 Algonkian Conference Workshop
3/6/2008 Boston University Workshop
3/12/2008 Moorpark College Reading
3/19-20/2008 ASU/Paradise Valley CC Workshop/Reading
3/31/2008 LouderARTS Reading
4/10/2008 ALOUD Moderator
4/11/2008 Lake Tahoe CC Reading
4/18-19/2008 Alabama Book Festival Reading/Panel
5/20/2008 Cornelia Street Café Reading
6/20-30/2008 Stonecoast Summer Residency Low Residency
7/31-8/2/2008 Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conf. Writers’ Conference
8/17-8/21/2008 Whidbey Writers Workshop Low Residency
10/28/2008 Big Thinking Women Panel Panel Discussion/Reading
11/8/2008 San Louis Obispo Art Center Reading
12/8/2008 Boston Court Reading

Bibliography

*"The Crucifix is Down" (Red Hen Press, 2005) (ed.)
*"Mating Season" (Tupelo Press, 2004)
*"Fake-City Syndrome" (Red Hen Press, 2002) (ed.)
*"Lake of Fire" (Winter Street Press, 2000)
*"Blue Cathedral" (Red Hen Press, 2000) (ed.)
*"Fishers of Men" (Red Hen Press, 2000)
*"African Sleeping Beauty" (Blue Beginnings Publishing, 2000)
*"Selling the Hammock" (Red Hen Press, 1998)
*"Anyone is Possible" (Red Hen Press, 1997) (ed.)
*"Where Crows and Men Collide" (Red Hen Press, 1995)
*"Water Moccasins" (Title Wave Press, 1994)
*"Blue Air" (Garden Street Press, 1993)

Librettos

*"Rio de Sangre" with composer Don Davis
*"Paradises Lost" with Ursula K. LeGuin with composer Stephen Andrew Taylor
*"Kindred" adapted from the novel by Octavia Butler with composer Billy Childs
*"Inner Circle" adapted from the novel by T. C. Boyle with composer Daniel Felsenfeld

External links

* [http://www.kategale.com Kate Gale's official site]
* [http://www.redhen.org Red Hen's Website]
* [http://www.riodesangre.com Rio de Sangre site]
* [http://www.composersforum.org American Composer's Forum site]
* [http://www.aroomofherown.org A Room of Her Own site]
* [http://www.unk.edu/news/nr/months/index.php?id=29478 University of Nebraska News site]