5 Things about Kelcey
1. I grew up in Ohio and live in Indiana.
2. I live on the banks of the St. Joseph River with herons, turtles, groundhogs, and geese.
3. I am regularly attacked by the aforementioned geese as well as red-winged blackbirds while minding my own business.
4. I'm probably taller than you.
5. If I had to pick a favorite author for, say, password recovery, it would be Virginia Woolf.
More official third-person bio
Kelcey Ervick is a writer and artist creating visual narratives in a variety of media. After more than a decade during which she earned a PhD and published books of literary fiction, Kelcey began to pursue new ways of telling stories through illustration, comics, and collage. Whether working on paper, a wood panel, or an iPad, Kelcey loves exploring the dynamic interplay of image and text.
Kelcey is the author of four award-winning books, including the graphic memoir, The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women's Lives (Avery Books/Penguin), winner of a 2023 Ohioana Book Award and featured in the New York Times Book Review's Holiday Gift Guide. Her three previous award-winning books of fiction and nonfiction are The Bitter Life of Božena Němcová, Liliane's Balcony, and For Sale By Owner. She is co-editor, with Tom Hart, of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature. Kelcey's work has appeared in The Rumpus, The Believer, Washington Post, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. She has received grants from the Indiana Arts Commission, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and New Frontiers in Arts and Humanities at Indiana University. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and is a professor of English and creative writing at Indiana University South Bend. Kelcey writes and draws stories of the creative life at her illustrated newsletter, The Habit of Art.
A little more...
An Aspiring Football Player
What I really wanted to be was a wide receiver.
A Keeper
I became a goalkeeper instead.
A Writer
Eventually I became a writer and artist who tells stories of badass women who have been treated badly.
[All the awesome author photos by: Myriam Nicodemus]
[Childhood photos of author by: Mom]
Contact Kelcey
Get in touch
THE KEEPER was published in 2022, the year Title IX turned 50, and my edited book THE FIELD GUIDE TO GRAPHIC LITERATURE followed in 2023. I'm happy to meet with classes, book clubs, athletes, libraries, and other groups to talk about writing, comics, Title IX, girls' sports, and more.
Still reading? Okay, here's more...
I am a writer who started drawing every day.
As a professor, I know that the best way to learn something is to try it. As a reader of Beckett, I know that the best way to improve at something is to try again. Fail again. Fail Better.
In 2018, I started drawing every day. I published an essay about it at The Rumpus: "The Habit of Art: A Year of Daily Painting."
I like bowling.
This image is a watercolor painting I made from a scene at our league night. Our team of English professors is called The Big Lebowskis.
I have also published with the last name Parker.
I got married, changed my name. I got divorced, changed it back. In between, I published some books. It's a pain.
Ervick is what might be called my "maiden name," but I don't like that (patriarchal) term, and my grandfather was from Ervik, Norway, where the tradition is to take the name of the place, not the man. My grandfather was named after the Viking, Ragnvald of Ervik, so I call Ervick my "Viking name."
Here is a photo of Ervik, Norway from my visit there in 2008.
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My illustrated newsletter about the ups, downs, loop-de-loops, and life-changing power of making art and telling stories.