Karen Lillis

Karen Lillis was born in Washington, D.C. during the Vietnam War and has lived in Virginia, New York, Austin, Paris, and Pittsburgh. A novelist, freelance writer, and small press blogger, she is the author of four books of fiction: the novels "The Second Elizabeth" (Six Gallery Press, 2009) and "i, scorpion" (Words Like Kudzu Press, 2000); and the novellas "Watch the Doors as they Close" (Spuyten Duyvil, 2012) and [under the pseudonym Carol Lewis] "Magenta's Adventures Underground" (Words Like Kudzu with New York Nights, 2004). She has written for Art Papers, The Austin Chronicle, Big News, Keyhole Magazine, New Art Examiner, New York Nights, Pop City, Pulse/Berlin, Southern Quarterly, Verdure Magazine, and Undie Press, among others. She was a 2014 recipient of the Acker Award for Avant Garde Excellence in Fiction. Her fiction was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her article on the independent presses of Pittsburgh was a finalist for a Golden Quill Press Award. She blogs at Karen the Small Press Librarian and she is the founder of the indie bookselling service, Small Press Roulette, and creator of the online literary directory, Small Press Pittsburgh.