AIE Directory

Residency Artist - Creative Writing

N.M. Kelby

410 N. 2nd #431
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Emails: nmkelby@yahoo.com
Website: www.nmkelby.com

I write in many genres but am primarily known for novels, short stories and plays. It is my goal to help students craft flash fiction, scenes or studies that begin with a personal story. We then morph and mutate it until it is both true to the moment and the biggest lie ever told. Depending on the number of meetings, we'll shift it into many styles including magic realism and the humorous tale. I am always interested in designing residencies that meet the needs of the sponsor. I once spent three months collecting the oral histories of Finnish women on the Iron Range of Minnesota and then created a community theater play based on that work.

I was born in Toledo in the Polish neighborhood of Kuschwantz. My mother was a French Jew shot during WWII. My Polish father didn't speak English well until he was in college. I'm very interested in returning to my Ohio immigrant roots to gather a deeper understanding of what it means to be an American.

I have taught at all levels, pre-K through college, and served as an Artist in the Schools for Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota. Books include The Constant Art of Being A Writer: The Life, Art & Business of Fiction (Writer's Digest Books), A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts: Stories, Murder at the Bad Girl's Bar and Grill, Whale Season, In the Company of Angels, and Theater of the Stars. My work has been translated into several languages and offered by The Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and Quality Paperback Book Club. Many theater companies have performed my plays and I've been the recipient of several grants including a Bush Artist Fellowship in Literature, an NEA Inter-Arts grant and both a Florida and Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship. I'm currently working on the film version of Whale Season along with actor/singer Dwight Yoakam.