Judith Kitchen was the author of several books, including: Perennials (poetry); Writing the World: Understanding William Stafford (criticism); Only the Dance (essays); Distance and Direction (essays); Half in Shade (nonfiction); and The House on Eccles Road (novel), which was awarded the S. Mariella Gable Prize in fiction. Her other awards include an NEA fellowship, two Pushcart Prizes, and the Lillian Fairchild Award. She taught nonfiction in the Rainier Writing Workshop, the low-residency MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, up until her death in 2014.