Kathleen McClung is the author of four collections of poetry, A Juror Must Fold in on Herself (2020), Temporary Kin (2020), The Typists Play Monopoly (2018) and Almost the Rowboat (2013). Her poetry, memoir, and fiction appear widely in journals  and anthologies, including Atlanta Review, The Healing Muse, California Quarterly, Caesura, Unsplendid, Mezzo Cammin,  Heron Tree, Tule Review, Peacock Journal, Poetry Now, Gyroscope Review, Poets 11, Raising Lilly Ledbetter: Women Poets Occupy the Workspace, and A Bird  Black as the Sun: California Poets on Crows and Ravens.

A native of northern California, McClung also lived for several years in Colorado.  She earned MA degrees from Stanford University and California State University Fresno, where she studied with poets Alan Shapiro, Philip Levine, and Peter Everwine. Kathleen has taught writing and literature classes at Skyline College in San Bruno, California for over 20 years. Additionally, she leads writing workshops at The Writing Salon in San Francisco and Berkeley.

Recipient of the Rita Dove Poetry Award from Salem College 2012 International Literary Awards, Kathleen was selected by Naomi Shihab Nye as the winner of the 2012 National Poetry Competition sponsored by the Cultural Center of Cape Cod. Nye also honored Kathleen’s work in The MacGuffin’s 2017 National Poet Hunt.

McClung was a writer-in-residence at Friends of the San Francisco Public Library in 2018-2019. She serves on the poetry staff of The MacGuffin and directed the Women on Writing Conference at Skyline College from 2009 to 2019.