Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (Richardson) - Author Bio

Author Bio
Kim Michele Richardson is the author of a memoir and several novels; her most recent, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, was published in 2019.

Richardson lives with her family in Kentucky. She has spent years visiting nearly every cranny in the state—its rural areas, deep woodlands, and rolling hills—sussing out stories of the people, their histories, and traditions, as well as the hardships and social injustices endured. As Richardson writes on her website:

I write human stories set in a unique landscape. Knowing one small piece of this world, the earth, the sky, the plants, the people and the very air of it—helps us understand the sufferings and joys of others —ourselves.

In addition to her writing, Richardson has found time to volunteer by building houses for Habitat for Humanity. She is also an advocate for the prevention of child abuse and domestic violence, partnering with the U.S. Navy globally to bring awareness and education to the prevention of domestic violence.

In 2018-19 Richardson undertook the construction of a small house to serve as a base for a new residency program to help budding writers. The residency, "Shy Rabbit," began operations in the summer of 2019. In addition to the Kentucky site, Shy Rabbit will offer "scholarships and a food stipend several times during the year to writers anywhere."

Books
Richardson's memoir, The Unbreakable Child, detailing her own experience with child abuse, was released in 2009. Her novels include, Liar’s Bench (2015), Godpretty in the Tobacco Field (2016), The Sisters of Glass Ferry (2017), and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (2019) about the Kentucky Packhorse librarians who, under the auspices of the Federal WPA, carried books to far flung regions during the Great Depression. 

Richardson also writes for Huffington Post and is a book critic for the New York Journal of Books. (Adapted from online sources, including the author's website.)