Karen Shimmin grew up in Boulder, Colorado and came to the flat, flat land of Chicago, Illinois in 2005. Since graduating from Northwestern University's creative writing and theatre programs, she has performed around the city.
Photo: Jill Howe
Karen is the co-host of All Write Already!, a completely unpretentious literary podcast. The show is an attempt by Karen and her co-host, Willy Nast, to discuss the craft of writing in a way that is both informative and actually fun to listen to. Since its launch in September 2012, Karen has had the pleasure of interviewing writers of fiction, poetry, science fiction, YA, and creative non-fiction, including Susan Orlean, Gary Shteyngart, Daniel Handler, Junot Díaz, and Leslie Jamison.
In January 2013, Karen became the co-host and co-producer of Essay Fiesta, a monthly live lit show, where she is also a monthly featured reader.
Karen has performed at the live lit shows Guts & Glory, Story Club, Story Sessions, This Much Is True, That's All She Wrote, The Marrow, You're Being Ridiculous, Loose Chicks, Miss Spoken, and Wit Rabbit.
Karen finds herself writing about water, the Western United States, lightbulbs, and her dumpster-diving grandfather.