About the Author
Kate Schatz
www.kateschatz.com
www.radamericanwomen.com
I am Kate Schatz (pronounced 'Shots') . I'm a writer, educator, organizer, public speaker, and activist. I am the author of the New York Times bestselling books Rad Women Worldwide (Ten Speed Press) and Rad American Women A-Z (City Lights Books) , as well My Rad Life: A Journal (July 2017; Ten Speed Press) .
I learned to read in a clawfoot bathtub filled with pillows in a bookstore called Hicklebee's; after that, I often got in trouble for reading at the dinner table (and now my daughter does the EXACT same thing) . I wrote my first book when I was in 2nd grade: it was called Little Sisters, and it was basically Ramona Quimby fan fiction. I still have it! I organized my first protest in 6th grade when I became a vegetarian and convinced my friends to stop eating Burger King because they were clear-cutting rainforests to graze cattle. I've been reading, writing, and standing up for justice ever since. I still love Ramona Quimby, and I still don't eat meat.
My book of fiction, Rid of Me: A Story, was published in 2006 as part of the acclaimed 33 1/3 series. Stories, essays, and articles have been published in LENNY, Buzzfeed, Signature, Oxford American, Denver Quarterly, Joyland, East Bay Express, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others. My short story "Folsom, Survivor" was a 2010 Notable Short Story in Best American Short Stories 2011. I recently wrote the introduction to "Kamala", a collection of feminist fairytales from Feminist Press, and I contributed an essay on whiteness, race, and post-election reckoning in the anthology "Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Dissent in Dangerous Times."
I'm also a co-founder of Solidarity Sundays, a nationwide feminist activist group committed to empowering women to resist the Trump administration and to take positive, progressive political action. I've appeared on numerous NPR affiliates; lots of great podcasts; msnbc; and at 100s of schools, universities, libraries, and non-profit organizations all over the country to talk about my books and how we can empower young people - especially girls and young women - to be "rad", and to make the world a better place.
I live in the Bay Area with my family, which includes two kids, a cat, and a really rad dude named Jason. We like to hang out with our neighbors, sing 'Hamilton' songs together, read stories, and go on adventures.
I am represented by the fabulous agent Charlotte Sheedy.