Katie Fallon is the author of the nonfiction books Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird (Brandeis University Press, 2020 and University Press of New England, 2017) and Cerulean Blues: A Personal Search for a Vanishing Songbird (Ruka Press, 2011), which was a Finalist for the Reed Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment. Katie is also the co-author of two books for children, Look, See the Bird! (2017) and Look, See the Farm! (2018), both from Hatherleigh Press.
(Follow this link for more information about Katie’s books.)
Katie’s essays have been included in several anthologies and collections, including When Birds Are Near: Dispatches from Contemporary Writers (Cornell University Press, 2020); Mountains Piled upon Mountains: Appalachian Nature Writing in the Anthropocene (West Virginia University Press, 2019); Reading Shaver’s Creek: Ecological Reflections from an Appalachian Forest (Penn State University Press, 2018); and Appalachia’s Last Stand (Wind, 2009).
Katie writes the column WINGBEATS for Bird Watcher’s Digest. Her essays and articles have appeared in a variety of other journals and magazines, including Fourth Genre, River Teeth, Ecotone, Bark Magazine, Still, Appalachian Heritage, Now & Then, Isotope, Fourth River, the minnesota review, The Tusculum Review, and elsewhere. Her essay “Feeding” (published in Still in 2018) was nominated for a Best of the Net award and was listed as a “Notable” in Best American Science & Nature Writing 2019, and her essay “Rebirth” (published in River Teeth, Fall 2013) was listed as a “Notable” in Best American Science & Nature Writing 2014. Another essay, “Hill of the Sacred Eagles,” was a finalist in Terrain‘s 2011 essay contest. Katie has taught creative writing at Virginia Tech and West Virginia University, and in the Low-Residency MFA Programs at West Virginia Wesleyan College and Chatham University.
Katie is Executive Director of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving wild birds through research, education, and rehabilitation. The ACCA is based near Morgantown, WV, and each year treats more than 500 injured wild birds, conducts dozens of environmental education programs with twenty non-releasable raptors, and sponsors conservation research projects. A member of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators and a Certified Professional Bird Trainer, Katie has conducted educational programs featuring a variety of raptor, parrot, and corvid species. Katie has also served as President of the Mountaineer Chapter of the National Audubon Society, and she is the Market Manager for the Cheat Lake Farmers Market. Email Katie (or visit the Outreach section of this site) if you’d like to learn more.
In 2022, Katie ran for a seat in the West Virginia state legislature and was narrowly defeated (by just 138 votes!) Her political website is here.
A lifelong resident of Appalachia, Katie’s great-great grandfather, great-grandfather, and grandfather were coal miners in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. She lives in Cheat Lake, WV, with her family.
Katie’s first word was “bird.”
Read More By & About Katie:
Listen to an interview with Katie on the American Birding Association’s podcast, November 2020.
Katie’s essay “Nighthawks: Lake Perez” is included in the anthology When Birds Are Near, available in September 2020 from Cornell University Press.
Katie’s essay “Feeding” (originally published in Still: The Journal) is listed as “Notable” in Best American Science and Nature Writing 2019. Read it in Still: The Journal.
Katie’s essay “Forest Disturbance” appears in the 2019 Appalachian nature writing anthology Mountains Piled upon Mountains, forthcoming from WVU Press. Read an excerpt of the essay here.
Fellow vulture conservationist Merlyn Nomsa Nkomo (in Zimbabwe) recently interviewed Katie for her blog.
Read Katie’s short article about fierce female raptors on the National Audubon Society’s website.
Katie’s work was recently added to Penn State University’s “Creek Journals,” a Long-term Ecological Reflections Project based at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center. Click to read Katie’s eight short essays–and more about the Creek Journals project!
WV Living magazine named Katie a 2017 “Wonder Woman of West Virginia.”
Listen to an interview with Katie on BirdCallsRadio, September 2016.
Essay “Hill of the Sacred Eagles” published in Terrain and named a Finalist for its 2011 Creative Nonfiction Contest. This piece appears in a different form as a chapter in Vulture.
Essay “Rebirth” published in River Teeth, Fall 2013. Nominated by the editors for a Pushcart Prize and listed as “Notable” in Best American Science and Nature Writing 2014. This piece appears in a different form as a chapter in Vulture.
Essay “Dogs Bring Comfort in Wake of Virginia Tech Tragedy” in Bark Magazine, 2011.
An excerpt from Chapter Two of Cerulean Blues in The Tusculum Review, 2011.
Katie is featured as a “hero” on the Aurora Lights blog.
