Elizabeth Kuelbs writes poetry, fiction, and non-fiction for children and adults, often with an emphasis on bringing attention to the natural world and our place within it. Her work for young readers appears in What is Hope?, Things We Feel, Spider, the caterpillar, Cricket, The Dirigible Balloon, and elsewhere. Her work for adults can be found or is forthcoming in Scientific American, Under a Warm Green Linden, Lily Poetry Review, Literary Mama, Rust & Moth, Claw & Blossom, Kissing Dynamite, Poets Reading the News, The Ekphrastic Review, The Children’s Writers Guild, HOOT Review, 100 word story, Minerva Rising, and other publications.
Her poetry has won awards from the California State Poetry Society and the Ventura County Poetry Project, her fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and her nonfiction picture book manuscript The Forest of Violins won the 2023 SCBWI CenCal Writers’ Day PB writing contest. Elizabeth is the author of the poetry chapbooks How to Clean Your Eyes (dancing girl press, 2021), and Little Victory (Finishing Line Press, 2021), which was selected as a Distinguished Favorite in Social/Political Poetry in the 2022 Independent Press Awards.
A lover of science and art, Elizabeth holds an MS in Information Systems Analysis and Design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. A firm believer in the goodness of natural wonder, she has presented on the power of strong environmental stories to spark awe and connect readers with nature, and strives to tell them herself.
When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking with her family in the Santa Monica Mountains and beyond, brewing excellent espresso, learning how to photograph local wildlife, and volunteering with young writers.
Elizabeth is currently at work on poetry, picture books, and a YA novel.