Kathryn Harrison

Author

Kathryn Harrison is a New York Times best-selling novelist, memoirist, and essayist. She has written five novels, including The Seal Wife, Thicker Than Water, Poison, and The Binding Chair, as well as a critically-acclaimed memoir The Kiss. Her stories often explore intricate and emotionally charged themes of family tension, moral ambiguity, and personal transformation. Born in Los Angeles, Harrison graduated from Wesleyan University and earned her master’s degree in comparative literature from Brown University. Her first book, Thicker Than Water, was published shortly after she graduated from Brown and won a Literary Lions award from the Los Angeles Times. Harrison’s work has been critically acclaimed for its range and nuance. The Kiss was a New York Times Notable Book, and her most recent novel, The Binding Chair, was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection. Her writing has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Harper’s Magazine. Harrison is a lifelong learner, and has studied and written about topics as varied as art, history, psychology, and food. She is also the author of a cookbook, The Atomic Gourmet: Entertaining the Whole Family Around the Table, a collection of family recipes, travel stories, and essays that explore the importance of food, conviviality, and tradition in life. Harrison currently divides her time between her native Los Angeles and upstate New York, where she teaches writing at Skidmore College. As a novelist and memoir, she invites readers into her own life in order to confront and reveal most intimate issues. She does an outstanding job of making readers experience the beauty, fragility, and horror of life.