PRAISE FOR KEEP A'LIVIN'
The book is a timely addition to the literary canon, providing a portal through which we are brought to our knees by what is so clearly wrong and not-so-clearly right about the story that is America.
—Paula Coomer, author of Dove Creek and Somebody Should Have Scolded the Girl
AWARDS
Not since THE COLOR PURPLE has a book come along that will open the minds and hearts of all who read it. If you were alive in the last century, and even if you didn't arrive until this century, this story will fill a major gap in your understanding of American history. They sure as hell didn't teach it to us in school, but some of us lived it. Kathya Alexander's writing is brilliant, evocative, and this is a book students of literature will be studying for a long, long time. Think Zora Neale Hurston. Think Toni Morrison. Think bell hooks.
Paula Coomer, Author of Somebody Should Have Scolded The Girl
2025 CityArtist Award - Seattle Office of Arts and Culture
2025 Hope Corps Award - City of Seattle
2024 Recreation4All Award - Seattle Parks and Recreation
The Write To Breathe Summer Youth Theater
2024 Artist Trust Endurance Grant
2024 4Culture Cultural Producers Recovery Fund
2023 CityArtist Award - Seattle Office of Arts and Culture
The Negro Passion Play
2023 Recreation4All Award - Seattle Parks and Recreation
The Write To Breathe Summer Youth Theater
2023 Creative Residency Fellowship - Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences - The Negro Passion Play
2023 Artist Trust Endurance Grant
2022 Artists at the Center Award - Seattle Office of Arts and Culture
Black To My Roots
2022 Arts Project Individuals Funding Award - 4Culture
The Negro Passion Play
2022 Arts In Parks Award - Seattle Office of Arts and Culture
The Negro Passion Play
2022 Welcome Back Seattle Award - Seattle Parks and Recreation
The Write To Breathe Summer Youth Theater
2022 Artist Trust Endurance Grant
2021 Welcome Back Seattle Award - Seattle Parks and Recreation
The Write To Breathe Summer Youth Theater
2021 Grant For Artists Progress Award - Artist Trust
2020 Recreation For All Award - Seattle Parks and Recreation
The Write To Breathe Summer Youth Theater Workshop
2018 Jack Straw Artist Support Program Award
Angel In The Outhouse
2017 Arts Projects Award - 4Culture
Black D*ck Matters
2014 Work Readiness Arts Program Award - Office of Arts and Culture
Think! Before You Do
2014 Youth Arts Award - Office of Arts and Culture
Hands Up! Don’t Shoot!
2013 CityArtist Award - Office of Arts and Culture
2013 Seattle Theater Group (STG) – Night At The Neptune
David And Jonathan: A Modern Day Retelling of the Biblical Story
2007 Writer-in-Residence, Hedgebrook Women Writer’s Retreat
Homegoing
2005 Freehold Theater Lab Diversity Scholarship
2002 Fringe First Award for Black to My Roots: African American Tales from the Head and the Heart @ Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Scotland
Outstanding New Production and Innovation in Theater
2024 POETS & WRITERS Get the Word Out Fiction COHORT
Get the Word Out was developed with funding from Leonard and Louise Riggio, with additional support from Macmillan Publishers.
Learn more about the program at
ABOUT ANGEL IN THE OUTHOUSE
Kathya used nuanced humor and song to provide the audience with a glimpse into the first-hand experiences of normal people living through and being a part of the Civil Rights Movement. Her ability to adapt her stories to a classroom setting was also remarkable; she provided a self-contained history and social justice lesson while spinning a tale that captivated adults and children alike. – Kyle, Whitman College
Thank you for sharing your stories with us. They were amazing! I really learned a lot about the Civil Rights Movement. I also wish I had your writing skills. If I did I’d be famous! – Joshua, 6th grader
Thank you so much for telling us your storys! I really enjoyed how you elaborated on your story. I also liked how you showed us pictures of what you were talking about. My favorite was the picture of what your washer looked like. Another thing I liked was how your story had a moral that was like listen to your mom. Thanks again!!! – Caroline, 5th grader
Thank you for telling us a story about what it was like to be Black during the Civil Rights Movement. It answered a lot of questions that I had. – Tate, 2nd grader
I really enjoyed listening to your story. One of my favorite parts was how you didn’t understand why you were treated so poorly by whites. I especially liked your style of storytelling. It was very active. You always kept me laughing. – Pax, middle school