Kate Hoefler received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Michigan, and a BA in English and Creative Writing from Ohio University. She has taught courses at the University of Michigan and Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, in a variety of writing-related disciplines, and was formerly the head of circulation for the Roberta A. Smith Library at Ohio’s Muskingum University. Kate currently works for a publisher as a project manager across all curriculum disciplines, assisting in the production and development of titles in English.

When developing picture books, Kate’s key considerations are perspective, creating conversation starters, and allowing the reader to make connections. She holds close to her heart the concept that picture books are poetry, and that children and adults really have the same questions about life. Although she gives notes and direction to the illustrator, she respects the illustrator’s vision of the story, believing that the dance between the writer and illustrator yield’s the deepest expression of the story’s meaning.  

Picture books give Kate a vehicle to express what she loves talking about most—“showing the quiet labors of love that get no audience—where individuals are kinder, tender, and presumably without an audience, and not because of an audience.”

An interviewer asked what she would say to schoolchildren if she could say anything. She replied, “When you pick a book, ask yourself: Where do I want to go today?”

Kate has two children, a cat, and a dog that encourage her to pause from her writing to enjoy even more merry moments.