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A North Carolina native, Kat Meads is the author of six novels (one written as Z. K. Burrus), three essay collections, two short fiction collections, an epistolary memoir, and a hybrid fiction. She has also published several chapbooks of poetry and prose. Her short plays have been produced in New York, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Toronto (Canada), and elsewhere. Her writing has been recognized by two Independent Publisher (IPPY) medals, an NEA fellowship, a California Artist fellowship, and two Silicon Valley artist grants. A five-time Foreword Reviews Book of the Year finalist, she has received five Best American Essays notable citations and writer residencies at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Yaddo, Millay, Blue Mountain Center, and Montalvo Center for the Arts. She lives in California.