Bio

Katie Fallon is the author of the nonfiction book Cerulean Blues: A Personal Search for a Vanishing Songbird (Ruka Press, November 2011), which was recently named as a finalist for the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Reed Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment. Katie’s essays have appeared in a variety of literary journals and magazines, including The Bark, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, Ecotone, Appalachian Heritage, Now & Then, Isotope, Fourth River, The Tusculum Review, and elsewhere. Her essay “Hill of the Sacred Eagles” was a finalist in Terrain.org’s 2011 essay contest, and she has been nominated several times for a Pushcart Prize. Katie has taught creative writing at Virginia Tech and West Virginia University. Her first word was “bird.”

Katie is also one of the founders of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving wild birds through scientific research; outreach and public education; and rescue and rehabilitation. The ACCA is based near Morgantown, WV. Email Katie if you’d like to learn more!

During the summer and fall, Katie serves as Market Manager for the Cheat Lake Farmers’ Market. The market is held Mondays from 4-7pm in the parking lot of the Chestnut Ridge Church, just off exit 10 of I-68. Come on down for farm-fresh vegetables and fruits, local beef, honey, baked goods, plants, and more. The market runs from June until mid-October.

Katie’s husband Jesse is a veterinarian, which is a good thing because Katie often finds wayward animals that need doctoring. Jesse is also working towards a PhD in Fisheries & Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech; we will have to call him “Dr. Dr. Fallon” once he finishes. Katie and Jesse live in Cheat Neck, WV, within sight of the Pennsylvania border. (Katie is fond of saying, “I can see Pennsylvania from my house.”) They share their home with two spoiled Beagle mixes, Mr. Billy Bones and Ms. Liza Jane, both former shelter dogs, and two small birds, Cassady the Peach-faced Lovebird and Asha the Blue-crowned Conure. Katie’s first word was “bird,” and she could ride a horse before she could walk. In addition to animals, she enjoys photography, belly dancing, wine, hiking, canoeing, and yoga. Her favorite photographer is Richard Mallory Allnutt, who took these beautiful pictures.

(The little bird in the header is a male Cerulean Warbler, a member of the fastest-declining songbird species in the United States. He was caught in a mist net and banded by biologists in the Lewis Wetzel Wildlife Management Area near Jacksonburg, West Virginia. For more info, read Katie’s book!)