Kristen Millares Young

Kristen Millares Young is a novelist, journalist, essayist, and the author of the memoir “Desire Lines” (Red Hen Press and Brilliance Audio, October 6, 2026). Called “searching, generous, and unrelenting” by Melissa Febos, “Desire Lines” is a forensic investigation into the emotional topography of being a woman, a writer, and a mother. In a starred review, Shelf Awareness called “Desire Lines” “an intellectually courageous road map for readers reconciling the cracks in their own family narratives.” Ms. magazine named “Desire Lines” a “Most Anticipated Feminist Book of 2026.”

Her debut novel “Subduction” was a staff pick of The Paris Review and deemed “whip-smart” by The Washington Post and “a brilliant debut” by The Seattle Times. Winner of Nautilus and IPPY awards, “Subduction” was a finalist for two International Latino Book Awards and Foreword Indies Book of the Year. Her essays, book reviews, and investigations appear in The Washington Post, The Guardian, Literary Hub, Pleiades, The Common, and the anthologies No Contact, Advanced Creative Nonfiction, Latina Outsiders and Alone Together.

In 2025, Kristen was in residence for Storyknife Writers Retreat and Reykjavík Writes. A former Prose Writer-in-Residence at Hugo House, she is the editor of Seismic, a finalist for a 2021 Washington State Book Award. Kristen was the researcher for The New York Times team that produced “Snow Fall,” which won a Pulitzer Prize.

Kristen graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with an A.B. in History and Literature, later earning her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Washington. From 2016 to 2019, Kristen served as board chair of InvestigateWest, a nonprofit news studio she co-founded.