Black Was Not A Label is my debut book, a collection of creative nonfiction essays first published by the now-defunct indie press, PRONTO. In July 2022, BWNL was picked by the largest independent publisher in Los Angeles, Red Hen Press, for re-release as a second edition featuring new cover art and was published on December 6, 2022.
The collection first began taking shape in the spring of 2014 with the inception of “Defiance,” a braided narrative essay that combined three stories from my not-too-distant past: when, in high school, a new friend labeled me as his “black friend;” when an (old, white) English professor had me say “Niggers” in class my first year of college, and when I cut my hair.
Each of these moments shaped me and set me on a journey of self-discovery. In short, my double consciousness was not so much rudely awakened as it was finally recognized, and it has brought startling awareness to every experience, every relationship, every moment of my life since.
This collection is a lamentation prayer to Father God. It is a meditation on love and desire, on feeling undesirable. It is a struggle between the realities of my past, the horrors of my ancestral history. It is a declaration of faith in the face of deep disappointments. It is a love letter to my body, my skin, my hair. It is my soul bound up in words.
I’m thankful to have been given a voice and to share it. Thankful to and for those who will engage with the deepest parts of my being. Thankful to PRONTO and Red Hen Press for handling my heart. Thankful to the many literary journals and magazines that gave these essays their first homes. Thankful to you, reader.
Count It All Loss is my second book and debut collection of just poetry published with the lovely indie publishing house, GoldScriptCo. This little chapbook is filled with my poems and personal art and walks through the different feelings and iterations of loss we experience: loss of a person, loss of the self, loss of an item, loss of time, loss of hope, and loss of understanding.
Each chapbook is printed and handbound in-house at GoldScriptCo and shipped from El Segundo, California.
Most Recent:
“THE FORGETTING ROOM” - FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction (2024)
“Where Everybody Knows Your Name” - Solid Food Press (2024)
“I am not their wildest dreams” - Ekstasis Magazine (2024)
“For My Sake” - Ekstasis Magazine (2024)
“Secondhand” - Halfway Down the Stairs (2023)
F O R T H C O M I N G P I E C E S
// the words came from the clouds; tumbled down, spilling from head to toe; torrential sunshine on young soul //
Hi, I’m Kathryn H. Ross, a California Native with a B.A. and M.A. in English (emphasis: writing and literature).
I work as a freelance copywriter and editor and I’m available for writing, editing, proofreading, and web design services through my sole proprietorship, CreatedtoCreate. I’m also an editor and contributing writer for Hallmark’s Mahogany Writer’s Community and a former columnist with Pasadena Now (2019-2021).
As a writer, I love fiction (especially fond of flash), poetry (adore prose poems), & creative non-fiction/memoir (the deep-down stuff that keeps me up at night) and tackle everything from identity, spirituality, race, and faith to familial, interpersonal, and romantic relationships and connections between people.
In both my writing and personal life, I desire and enjoy getting to the heart of relationships, stories, and people by stripping away the surface layers through connection, conversation, and time to reveal the inner soul.
Most recent from Hallmark Mahogany
Nobody Said It Was Easy (9.21.23)
Tending Each Other’s Gardens (7.20.23)
A Word from the Peach Tree (2.7.23)
From Pasadena Now
It Matters | On ‘Blue’s Clues’ and Hope - Pasadena Now, 9.23.21.
It Matters | CAP IS BLACK - Pasadena Now, 4.26.21.
It Matters | To Whom Are We Responsible? - Pasadena Now, 3.17.21.
It Matters | Why Race Still Matters in a Post-Race Universe - Pasadena Now, 1.20.20.
It Matters | I Didn’t Miss What I Don’t Miss - Pasadena Now, 3.30.20.
I N T E R V I E W S
Spotlighting Black Authors for Black History Month, Red Hen Press, February 2023
Shoutout LA Interview, February 2023
VoyageLA Interview, July 2022
Book/Author Rec of the week with accompanying author interview on SparkNotes IG, July 2021
Contributor Spotlight with Arkana Mag, March 2021.
IAHI Interview with Dan Grossman: Kathryn H. Ross: Pivoting in the State of the World and Seeing Goodness Out of That - IAHI Arts and Humanities, October 2020
Guest on Active Voice: Writers Respond Podcast for an interview with Katie Bausler on Black Was Not A Label and the state of racial unrest in America.
Speaker & Reader for Black Voices in Conversation with poet Douglas Manuel - an event put on by Red Hen Press and Pronto.
Guest on New Books in Poetry Podcast for an interview with Athena Dixon on Black Was Not A Label and its development.
Literally Stories Literally Reruns Series: Rerun of “Between First and Final Breath” (2016) with accompanying mini-interview.
Radio Guest on KBQHLA's (101.5 FM) CMTY LIVE (Community Affairs Department) to chat about Black Was Not A Label, writing, childhood, and life in LA.
“Weird Words with Kathryn H. Ross" In Pidgeonholes Weird Words Website Relaunch Series 2018
Guest on Episode #17 of Ordinary Grace Podcast for a talk about Black Was Not A Label, race, and spirituality.
“APU Alum Kathryn Ross Discusses Her New Book ‘Black Was Not a Label’ (Live Interview)” - ZU Podcasts, APU ZU Media.
Author Interviews Author with Heidi Turner (The Sacred Art of Trespassing Barefoot, Heritage Future, 2019)
R E V I E W S
On "Defiance"
On "Giving Up the Gun"
On "Saltwater Remedy"
“Review: Black Was Not A Label by Kathryn H. Ross" by DW McKinney of Linden Avenue Literary
“Book Review: Black Was Not A Label” by Jenny Ancik, Righter of Words
A W A R D S
Winner of the first annual West Wind Award for Literary Excellence and $100 prize for "In the World Where I Do Not Exist," 2018
M E N T I O N S + R E A D I N G S
“I am not their wildest dreams” was featured on Christianity Today’s Instagram as a spotlight feature on Black creatives for Black History Month, February 5, 2024.
“On the Other Side of Waking” was nominated for Best of the Net 2021-22 by Sybil Journal.
Featured Speaker + Reader for the 2020 Ray Bradbury Visiting Writer’s Lecture presented by the Bradbury Center/Indiana U (IUPUI and IAHI).
Featured Speaker for Creative Mornings LA + BOS chapters’ first ever hybrid virtual event for June 2020 on the theme ‘Insecure.’
A reading from Black Was Not A Label was featured in Creative Mornings Boston Chapter's IGTV, 2020.
Speaker & Reader for Black Voices in Conversation with poet Douglas Manuel - an event put on by Red Hen Press and Pronto.
A short, illustrated reading from Black Was Not A Label was featured on InHerShoesMovement's Instagram, 2020.
A reading from Black Was Not A Label was featured on Book Soup's #AuthorSoup Series on Facebook & IGTV, 2020.
A reading from Black Was Not A Label was featured on Skylight Books’ IGTV author series, 2020.
Featured on Split Lip Magazine’s Lip Service Blog: From the Writing Desk of Kathryn H. Ross
The Gravity of the Thing promotes Black Was Not A Label
Occulum Journal promotes Black Was Not A Label
“Twitter Poems” was nominated for Best of the Net 2019 by Linden Avenue.
“Bubble Wand” was nominated for Best of the Net 2018 by Bull & Cross Stories.
Recommendation of the week in Episode 2 of Spoilers Ahead, “It’s Feelings All the Way Down.”
"The Joy Kill Series [or] On Becoming Less of a Human and More of the Sky" was nominated for Best of the Net 2016 by Pidgeonholes Magazine.
"Hummingbird" in Luna Luna Magazine's blog/interview with Sea Foam Magazine.
"The Fish Are Biting on the River Styx" in Across the Margin's Best of 2015.
Questions? Thoughts? Looking for a skilled editor and copywriter? Just saying hi? Fill out the form below and let’s connect.
I’d love to hear from you!
[Speak the Write Language (™) and all works featured here are my own. I, Kathryn H. Ross, hold First North American Serial Rights (FNASR) to all short stories, poems, and essays (online and in print) listed here unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved.]