Beth Kander

Agent: Allison Hellegers

Beth Kander is a writer with tangled roots in the Midwest and Deep South. The granddaughter of immigrants, her work often explores how worlds old and new intertwine—or collide. Her writing has been described as “riveting” and “habit-forming.”

An author and playwright, Beth chases many different stories. She earned an MSW from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mississippi University for Women, where she now serves as visiting faculty. She currently calls Chicago home, and is lucky to live there with her very favorite characters: her heroic husband, their two hilarious kids, and a giant rescue dog named Oz.

Her darkly funny adult debut novel is I Made It Out of Clay (MIRA/HarperCollins, Dec. 2024) and right this moment she's probably drinking too much coffee and working furiously on the next story.

SELECTED HONORS & AWARDS

Dramatists Guild Foundation National Fellow (2024-2025); Henry Award for Best New Play or Musical (2023-2024); NJPP Finalist (2023); Hey Alma! Pitch Challenge (2022); T. Jefferson Carey Memorial Playwriting Award (2022); Henry Award for Best New Play or Musical (2019-2020); PitchWars (2019); Indie Best Bronze Medal (2019); Headwaters New Play Award (2018); Equity Library Theatre Showcase (2017); Ashland New Plays Festival (2015, 2016); Eudora Welty New Play Award (2008, 2010, 2012); Charles M. Getchell New Play Award (2012); Mississippi Arts Commission Playwriting Fellow (2010-2011).

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