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Katie is a novelist, freelance journalist, and erstwhile law professor in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is the author of the Hollywood Lights Series, which includes ENTANGLEMENT (2015), LOVE AND ENTROPY (2015), CHASING CHAOS (2015), HOW TO STAY (2017), and FALLOUT GIRL (2018), all with Blue Crow Books. She is also the author of many books of nonfiction, including LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED: Essays on Mental Health and Disability in Higher Education (Raven Books 2017).

As a journalist and essayist, Katie contributes to CATAPULT, MOTHERWELL, QUARTZ, THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, THE (late, lamented) TOAST, DAME MAGAZINE, WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION and other national venues. She earned her master’s degree in creative writing from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins, where she attended on a fellowship. Katie has published many books on writing, including HOW WRITING WORKS with Oxford University Press. A professor of writing for more than a decade, she now teaches creative writing and works as a writing coach and developmental editor.

Katie is a member of the Tall Poppy Writers, a community of women writers committed to connecting authors with each other and with readers. Stay in touch with Katie via her email letter, Writing Isn’t Sexy: pryalnews.com.

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Experience

WRITING AND CONSULTING

Author

Author of Novels

  • Entanglement: A Hollywood Lights Novel (Velvet Mornings Press 2015, 2nd Ed. Blue Crow Books)
  • Nice Wheels: A Novelette (Velvet Morning Press 2015, 2nd Ed. Blue Crow Books)
  • Love and Entropy: A Hollywood Lights Novel (Velvet Morning Press 2015, 2nd Ed. Blue Crow Books)
  • Chasing Chaos: A Hollywood Lights Novel (Velvet Morning Press 2016, 2nd Ed. Blue Crow Books)
  • How to Stay: A Hollywood Lights Novella (Blue Crow Books 2017)
  • Fallout Girl: A Hollywood Lights Novel (Blue Crow Books 2018)

Author of Nonfiction books

  • A Short Guide to Writing About Law (Pearson Education 2010)
  • The Legal Writing Workshop: Better Writing, One Case at a Time (Research Triangle Press 2010, 2nd edition 2015)
  • Core Grammar for Lawyers (Carolina Academic Press 2011, 3rd edition 2017)
  • Core Grammar for College (Carolina Academic Press 2013)
  • How Writing Works (Oxford University Press 2014)
  • The Complete Legal Writer (Carolina Academic Press 2016)
  • Life of the Mind Interrupted: Essays on Mental Health and Disability in Higher Education (Raven Books 2017)
  • The Freelance Academic: Transform Your Creative Life and Career (Raven Books 2019)

Pryal Consulting, Inc.

Freelance Journalist

Freelance journalist and essayist for various publications such as Catapult, Quartz, Dame Magazine, The Toast, Slate, Women in Higher Education, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vitae, and more.

Columnist for Women in Higher Education. 2016-present.

Columnist for Chronicle of Higher Education Vitae. 2014-present. Series “The Freelance Academic,” on adding freelancing to your academic life, and “Life of the Mind, Interrupted,” on mental health in academia.

Previous Journalism Positions:

Columnist, The Carolinian. Weekly Column: “Southern Semantics.” University of North Carolina Greensboro. 2006-2007.

Staff Writer. Brentwood Magazine, Los Angeles. 1998.

Staff Features Writer. News and Record, Greensboro. 1997.

Staff Writer and Associate Photography Editor. The Chronicle. Duke University. 1995-1997.

TEACHING

Duke University Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Course: Narrative Writing, 2016-2017.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Elon University School of Law, Greensboro, NC

2008-09 | Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law

University of North Carolina Greensboro

2004-06 | Graduate Instructor, Department of English

LAW PRACTICE

Admitted to Practice Law in North Carolina State and Federal Courts

Pryal Law, PLLC

A boutique law firm in Chapel Hill, NC, that focuses on contract negotiations and corporate entities.

The Hodgman Law Firm, Greensboro, NC

2005-06 | Associate Attorney. Part-time associate in worker’s compensation firm; prepared cases for mediation; drafted civil complains to accompany WC claims

United States District Court, Elizabeth City, NC

2003-04 | Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Terrence W. Boyle, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

McSurely and Osment, Chapel Hill, NC

2002-03 | Law Student Intern. Assisted in civil rights plaintiffs’ litigation, evaluated depositions, conducted research, and drafted complaints

North Carolina Justice Center, Raleigh, NC

2001-03 | Law Student Intern. Assisted in political asylum cases, collecting witness statements and conducting research, often in French language

Turner, Enochs & Lloyd, Greensboro, NC

2002 | Summer Associate. Assisted in a variety of cases, including bankruptcy and estate law cases.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric and Composition

August 2007 | University of North Carolina Greensboro

Concentrations in Rhetoric & Composition, Critical Theory, and Rhetoric of Law

Notes

  • UNCG English Department Norman Fellowship Recipient
  • UNCG English Department Tuition Fellowship Recipient
  • UNCG English Department Graduate Assistantship Recipient
  • UNCG Hennis Travel Fund Award recipient

Dissertation 

Actions in the Affirmative: Pragmatism, Pedagogy, Law, and the Affirmative Action Debate. Director: Hephzibah Roskelly. Readers: Stephen R. Yarbrough and Christian Moraru. This project combines rhetorical and legal theory with pragmatic philosophy to analyze the affirmative action debate.

Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies

May 2005 | University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Judicial Clerkship

The Honorable Terrence W. Boyle, Chief Judge
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, 2003-04

Juris Doctorate

May 2003 | University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, NC
Admitted to practice law in North Carolina State and Federal Courts

Notes

  • UNC School of Law Dean’s List 2001-2003
  • North Carolina Bar Association Pro Bono Award
  • UNC School of Law Pro Bono Recognition
  • Research Assistant for Professor Walker Blakey

Master of Arts in Creative Writing

May 2000 | Johns Hopkins University, The Writing Seminars

Notes

  • Fellowship Recipient
  • Writing workshops in nonfiction narrative and poetry
  • Master’s Thesis in Narrative Writing: The Rapist, My Love

Bachelor of Arts in French and English

December 1997 | Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences

Notes

  • Minor in Women’s Studies
  • Duke University Advanced Non-fiction Writing Course Best Essay Award, Spring 1997
  • Study Abroad at the University of Paris, 1997
  • Writing workshops with Mary Oliver, Joe Ashby Porter, Deborah Pope, Christina Askounis, and David Kellogg
  • Associate Photography Editor of the Yearbook (1995-96) and the student newspaper (1996-97)
  • Competed as a member of the intercollegiate Duke University Equestrian Team, 1994-97