About
Kat Russell is a writer and activist in Washington, D.C. She is the author of With Every Breath: Stories by and about people living with cystic fibrosis, published in 2006. She is a member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Success with Therapies Research Consortium steering committee and the Mary Kontos Caregiver Award selection committee, as well as a 2023 recipient of a CFF Impact Grant. A double lung transplant survivor, Katherine currently lives in Washington, DC and is the founder and CEO of Transformative Justice Solutions, a social justice consulting firm that assists organizations in elevating the voices of people with lived experiences to effect change. She has implemented trauma-informed speaking trainings for over 80 individuals with various lived experiences around social justice issues, and is currently launching a community-centered app to stem gun violence in DC called The Healing Outlet.
Kat Russell's writing portfolio is a mix of fiction, poetry, and essays that explore the resiliency of the human spirit and the complexity of self. Her other writing themes include cultural interaction, challenging the American criminal justice system, and social change.
Kat Russell's writing portfolio is a mix of fiction, poetry, and essays that explore the resiliency of the human spirit and the complexity of self. Her other writing themes include cultural interaction, challenging the American criminal justice system, and social change.
Books
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Coming Home: Reentry After Incarceration
A photo-essay collection Available here or at your local bookstore. COMING HOME is an effort to humanize criminal justice statistics and portray the challenges of post-incarceration life through word and photograph. By personalizing people’s stories as they re-enter society from jail or prison, we hope to encourage others in the community to remove barriers that lead to recidivism and shift the tone toward restorative approaches. From Buffalo, NY to Washington, DC and New York City, the COMING HOME participants tell stories of how they started their own nonprofits and businesses; became motivators, counselors, and teachers; and endeavored to improve their communities. |
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Shapes of Water (2012) is a collection of poems that journey through one person's coming of age with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that inhibits mainly the lungs and digestive system. These are poems on love, family, loss, self-discovery, and coming to terms.
Here's a review of Shapes of Water from poet Martha Deed. |
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With Every Breath (2006) is a collection of stories by and about people living with cystic fibrosis. Designed for all ages, this collection offers unique perspectives from patients, health care professionals, and family members of those living with the illness.
Patients aren't the only ones who will want to read With Every Breath. Family members, friends, and doctors can all find inspiration when they open it. The stories illustrate ways we can overcome challenges, understand CF, live through lung transplants and new diagnoses, and more. The book is filled with fun artwork, uplifting quotes, and photography. Celine Dion contributed the Foreword, and there are chapters by people of all ages and walks of life. This book is sponsored by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, and all proceeds go to cystic fibrosis. |