957 ratings | 460 reviews | avg rating:3.86

Kathryn’s Year In Books

Kathryn’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Kathryn’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Kathryn’s 2025 Year in Books

Kathryn Good-Schiff’s Followers (30)

Kathryn’s Bookshelves

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Kathryn’s Friends (183)

Marie

389 books | 249 friends

Clare Mather

655 books | 37 friends

Gretchen Hohmeyer

2,910 books | 405 friends

Dawnelle Wilkie

2,338 books | 153 friends

Emily Butler

1,028 books | 60 friends

Jeannette DeBol

162 books | 52 friends

Mel Bosworth

350 books | 914 friends

Lanette Sweeney

1,692 books | 310 friends

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Kathryn Good-Schiff

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://www.kathryngoodschiff.com/

Genre

Poetry

Influences

Elizabeth Bishop, Sharon Olds, Jeanette Winterson ...more

Member Since

July 2007

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Kat Good-Schiff holds an MFA from Goddard College and a BA from Hampshire College. Her poetry and short prose have been published in Kalliope, Pank, Quay, and other journals, and she has led writing workshops using the Amherst Writers and Artists Method. She traveled the country and the world before settling in western Massachusetts, where she lives with her wife and their assorted animals.

* As of December 2024, I'll be tracking my reading on The StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile... * ...more

136 posts
Kathryn Good-Schiff's Blog

30 Poems in November 2025

Well, I did it! I drafted 30 poems in 30 days, and I met my fundraising goal of $300+ to support free English classes at the Center for New Americans! I could not have done it without my wonderful donors, the encouragement and daily prompt emails from Nerissa Nields, and the community of other writers I felt around me as I held space each day, usually over breakfast or a sometimes with a nightcap,

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Kathryn Good-Schiff’s books

Average rating: 4.88 · 8 ratings · 4 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	S/He Speaks 3: Voices of Women and Trans Folx by Cassendre Xavier (Editor), Tom Daubert (Editor), Helen Zeidman (Editor) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings	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
	Love Letters to Ghosts it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	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
	East of North really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2008	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
	Moods by Mercedes de Acosta, Kathryn Good-Schiff (Goodreads Author) (Afterword) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	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

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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Kathryn’s Recent Updates

Kathryn Good-Schiff wrote a new blog post 30 Poems in November 2025 Well, I did it! I drafted 30 poems in 30 days, and I met my fundraising goal of $300+ to support free English classes at the Center for New Americans! Read more of this blog post »
Jan 23, 2026 09:54AM · 1 like · like
Kathryn rated a book it was amazing Love Letters to Ghosts by Kathryn Good-Schiff (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
I'm happy and excited that this chapbook I wrote is now out in the world. If you'd like to buy a copy, I recommend ordering from Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/love-let.... ...more
Mar 07, 2025 12:35PM · like · see review
Kathryn liked a quote “We have not always been forced to pass, to go underground, in order to work and live. We have a right to live openly and proudly...when our lives are suppressed, everyone is denied an understanding of the rich diversity of sex and gender expression and experience that exist in human society.” Leslie Feinberg
Feb 22, 2025 09:11AM · like · more quotes by Leslie Feinberg
Kathryn rated a book really liked it Without Exception: Reclaiming Abortion, Personhood, and Freedom by Pam Houston (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
Dec 16, 2024 03:14PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Without Exception by Pam Houston. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Without Exception by Pam Houston <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kathryn wants to read The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo (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
Nov 27, 2024 11:01AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kathryn rated a book really liked it The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Rashid Khalidi	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
A sobering, clear-eyed, fact-based history told with heart. Despite the title, it is not a one-sided argument, rather it lays out the many ways that Palestine as a place and as a people have been brutalized, abandoned, discounted, and misled over the ...more
Nov 25, 2024 11:33AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kathryn rated a book it was amazing White Doe by Maria Williams	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
Nov 25, 2024 10:54AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of White Doe by Maria Williams. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — White Doe by Maria Williams <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kathryn rated a book really liked it Witch King (The Rising World, #1) by Martha Wells (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
After the second read: I love so much about this book. The world-building of multiple human cultures and different immortal beings operating on related, overlapping time scales. The mixture of high-stakes politics and diplomacy with interpersonal rela ...more
Nov 25, 2024 09:47AM · 1 like · like · see review
Kathryn rated a book liked it Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones: A Memoir by Priyanka Mattoo	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
Mattoo's writing is lovely: detailed, gentle, introspective, wry, and evocative. I enjoyed the essays and made it about halfway through the book, but there wasn't enough of a through-line to keep me going to the end. ...more
Nov 25, 2024 09:42AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones by Priyanka Mattoo. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones by Priyanka Mattoo <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kathryn rated a book really liked it Witch King (The Rising World, #1) by Martha Wells (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
After the second read: I love so much about this book. The world-building of multiple human cultures and different immortal beings operating on related, overlapping time scales. The mixture of high-stakes politics and diplomacy with interpersonal rela ...more
Nov 23, 2024 09:03PM · 1 like · like · see review

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Kathryn’s Quotes

“Tell me a story, Pew.

What kind of story, child?
A story with a happy ending.
There’s no such thing in all the world.
As a happy ending?
As an ending.”
― Jeanette Winterson, Lighthousekeeping

116 likes

“If your teachers suggest that your poems are sentimental, that is only half of it. Your poems probably need to be even more sentimental. Don’t be less of a flower, but could you be more of a stone at the same time?”
― Mary Ruefle, Madness, Rack, and Honey: Collected Lectures

tags: poetry, sentiment, sentimentality

13 likes

“Think small.... If you can't think small, try philosophy or social criticism.”
― Richard Hugo, The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing

8 likes

“I used to try and concentrate the poem so much that there wasn't a word that wasn't essential. This leads to becoming boring and constipated.”
― W.H. Auden

tags: early-auden

22 likes

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”
― haruki murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

tags: inspirational, running

8526 likes

More of Kathryn’s quotes…

recent posts
Kathryn’s Groups

A Place for Poets — 455 members — last activity May 15, 2021 02:36AM
This group is for those who believe in the cross-cultural necessity and permanence of poetry. Share and discuss your favourite poets and the writing p ...more

Western Mass Goodreads — 106 members — last activity Oct 19, 2020 09:15AM
A group for residents of Western Massachusetts.

¡ POETRY ! — 22560 members — last activity Feb 16, 2026 08:36PM
No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read it!) Goodreads honors wordsmiths: poets and poetry promoted and prompted here. ~~~ "Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits." -- Carl Sandburg “God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer.” —Anne Sexton On Clouds – “…what primitive tastes the ancients must have had if their poets were inspired by those absurd, untidy clumps of mist, idiotically jostling one another about…” —Yevgeny Zamyatin “If the poet wants to be a poet, the poet must force the poet to revise. If the poet doesn’t wish to revise, let the poet abandon poetry and take up stamp-collecting or real estate.” —Donald Hall “Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has run wild, Creation’s tears in shoulder blades.” —Boris Pasternak “Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.” —Charles Simic “Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.” —Gustave Flaubert “Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that’s what the poet does.” —Allen Ginsberg. ~~~~~ Amy King, Moderator Amy King is the recipient of the 2015 Winner of the WNBA Award (Women’s National Book Association). Her latest collection, The Missing Museum, is a winner of the 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize. She serves on the executive board of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and is co-editing with Heidi Lynn Staples the anthology, Big Energy Poets of the Anthropocene: When Ecopoets Think Climate Change. She is also co-editing the anthology, Bettering American Poetry 2015, and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at SUNY Nassau Community College. ...more

Massachusetts Readers Advisory — 75 members — last activity Feb 07, 2019 05:16PM
A group for librarians to connect and discuss books and best practices for connecting readers to books they'll love. ...more