About Kelly

As a kid, Kelly loved books. The bookmobile was her playground; stories her safety net. In second grade, she read to find hope, other ways of living, and to get free personal pan pizzas through Book It! In middle school, she read with the goal of getting through all of the books in her teacher’s floor to ceiling library, taking multiple quizzes a week to prove her comprehension. As an adult, she continues to read widely: the lyrics of Queen Latifah, the essays of Ross Gay, the love tropes of Emily Henry, the protest of Renee Watson, the guidance of Natalie Goldberg, and on and on.

She also writes.

Her first book project: A YA novel about a young woman in foster care after her parents die of overdoses who finds family and friendship in another girl placed in the group home after her dad got physical. This project was shelved when Kelly was diagnosed with a rare and advanced disease, Inflammatory Breast Cancer, requiring aggressive treatment. While working through treatment, she’s been writing essays, performing at the Moth, and sharing writings and meditations to help other folks get through chemo.

Kelly co-owns a modular synthesizer company, Make Noise, with her partner, Tony, in West Asheville. Their band once played at All Tomorrows Parties in a hotdog water permeated room hours after De La Soul performed on a nearby stage that reeked of fish and chips.

Prior to working in the music industry, she served as a legal advocate for survivors of sexual violence in Chicago and developing plans for youth being tried as adults to get them into community based programs instead of lock-up. She was a founding teacher of the School for Democracy and Leadership in Brooklyn, NY, and then directed the RISE Project at Warren Wilson College in Western NC.