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Catherine Kapphahn

Goodreads Author

Website

http://catherinekapphahn.com

Genre

Memoir, Historical Fiction, Biography

Member Since

September 2019

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomcatherinekapphahn

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Catherine Kapphahn’s Immigrant Daughter: Stories You Never Told Me received The Center for Fiction’s Christopher Doheny Award. She has also received artist grants from the Queens Council on the Arts. Her writing has appeared in Astoria Magazine, the Feminist Press Anthology This is the Way We Say Goodbye, CURE Magazine, and SalonZine. She earned an M.F.A. in writing from Columbia University and B.A. from Hunter College. Catherine is an adjunct lecturer at City University of New York at Lehman College in the Bronx, where her students’ brave stories continue to inspire her. Catherine also is a yoga teacher. She grew up in near the mountains in Colorado and now lives between two bridges in Queens, New York with her husband and two sons.

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Catherine Kapphahn I try to break things down into little pieces. I tell myself, today before the kids wake up, I'll do one piece of research, or write one scene, or rev…moreI try to break things down into little pieces. I tell myself, today before the kids wake up, I'll do one piece of research, or write one scene, or revise one piece. I think it is easy to get overwhelmed by everything, so I try to really narrow my focus and tackle one thing. I often make lists of images, or details, or sensations, and then weave them into stories.(less)

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What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Catherine Kapphahn What has surprised me the most about writing Immigrant Daughter: Stories You Never Told Me is that when I was struggling with certain things, somehow …moreWhat has surprised me the most about writing Immigrant Daughter: Stories You Never Told Me is that when I was struggling with certain things, somehow people magically appeared in my life and helped me get through the rough patches. It was incredible to connect with different people, some who weren't writers, and have them go on the journey with me. We got teary together, we laughed together, we sang together, and I was so moved that they cared so much about my mom's story.

When you are writing every day, you find a a certain flow. It feels like a deep dive into the story, and it seems like nothing else exists. That's when writing suddenly feels like flying. (less)

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Catherine Kapphahn’s books

Average rating: 4.16 · 117 ratings · 22 reviews · 1 distinct work • Similar authors

Immigrant Daughter: Stories You Never Told Me

4.16 avg rating — 117 ratings — 4 editions

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Catherine is Currently Reading

Catherine Kapphahn is currently reading

Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician, August 6-September 30, 1945

by Michihiko Hachiya

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May 02, 2020 01:52PM

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Catherine’s Recent Updates

Catherine Kapphahn liked a quote “I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” ...more Diane Ackerman
May 31, 2026 06:35AM · like · more quotes by Diane Ackerman
Catherine Kapphahn liked a quote “Look at your feet. You are standing in the sky. When we think of the sky, we tend to look up, but the sky actually begins at the earth. We walk through it, yell into it, rake leaves, wash the dog, and drive cars in it. We breathe it deep within us. With every breath, we inhale millions of molecules of sky, heat them briefly, and then exhale them back into the world.” Diane Ackerman
May 31, 2026 06:34AM · like · more quotes by Diane Ackerman
Catherine Kapphahn wants to read A Mind Unraveled by Kurt Eichenwald (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 12, 2026 07:54AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A Mind Unraveled by Kurt Eichenwald. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A Mind Unraveled by Kurt Eichenwald <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Catherine Kapphahn rated a book it was amazing Breathless: An Asthma Journal by Louise DeSalvo	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 10, 2026 10:16AM · like
Catherine Kapphahn rated a book it was amazing I Knew a Woman: Four Women Patients and Their Female Caregiver by Cortney Davis	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Book Nook Cafe: Authors translated into English / translated authors	21	27	Jan 04, 2025 01:19PM
Around the World ...: Croatia	31	1937	Mar 13, 2025 08:59AM

Catherine’s Quotes

“Look at your feet. You are standing in the sky. When we think of the sky, we tend to look up, but the sky actually begins at the earth. We walk through it, yell into it, rake leaves, wash the dog, and drive cars in it. We breathe it deep within us. With every breath, we inhale millions of molecules of sky, heat them briefly, and then exhale them back into the world.”
― Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

101 likes

“I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”
― Diane Ackerman

250 likes