Bio

K.I. Press is the author of three books of poetry: Pale Red Footprints (Pedlar Press, 2001), Spine (Gaspereau Press, 2004), and Types of Canadian Women (Gaspereau Press, 2006).

Karen was born in Peace River, Alberta, and grew up on an acreage in the area, later moving to Peace River and then to Edmonton. She attended the University of Alberta and then the University of Ottawa (where she got her M.A. in English Literature) and Simon Fraser University (where she attended the Master of Publishing program). Karen then worked in the book publishing industry in Toronto, doing both full-time and freelance work for firms such as Anne McDermid & Associates, Doubleday Canada, Penguin Canada and Otherwise Editions (and, later, Portage & Main Press in Winnipeg). Since 2004 she has mainly been doing communications work in education and the arts.

Karen first had a poem and a short story published in literary magazines (Dandelion and Other Voices) in 1995, just as she was finishing her B.A. (She later acted as one of the editors of Other Voices.) She began what would become her first book, Pale Red Footprints, a poetic retelling of her grandfather's pioneer story, in Ottawa, while she was studying the "Canadian Long Poem" with Seymour Mayne. It was picked up by Pedlar Press in 2001 just after she moved to Toronto.

Spine and Types of Canadian Women were both written primarily in Toronto, and are published by Gaspereau Press of Kentville, Nova Scotia. Both books were shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award. In Toronto, Karen was also the Reviews Editor at The Danforth Review.

In 2005, Karen and her partner, poet and editor A.J. Levin, moved to Winnipeg, where Karen works for the Winnipeg Folk Festival. She is working on too many projects to know what her next book will be.