Kelly Kazek (born February 9, 1965) is an American journalist and author. She writes books for children, young adults and adults..[1][2] She has one daughter and lives with her husband near Huntsville, Alabama.[3][4]

Kelly Alyce Caldwell was born in Warner Robins, Georgia, to Charles and Gayle Gray Caldwell.[5] When Kazek was 11 years old, the family moved briefly to Birmingham, Alabama, before relocating to Huntsville, Alabama, when she was 12.[6] She graduated from Auburn University in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in English.[7] She wrote in the introduction to her book Hidden History of Auburn that she had no idea what to do with an English degree if she did not plan to teach, so she applied at a newspaper and became an "accidental journalist."[7]

She wrote for The Decatur (Alabama) Daily and was editor at The News Courier in Athens, Alabama. Since 2012, she has written about the South and Alabama for The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, Mobile Press-Register, AL.com and It's a Southern Thing. Her first book, published when she was 44 years old, was a collection of her humorous newspaper columns, Fairly Odd Mother: Musings of Slightly Off Southern Mom.[8] She twice served as president of the Alabama Associated Press Media Editors.[9] She has also served on the Advisory Council of the Encyclopedia of Alabama.[10]

Throughout her career, she has won numerous state and national press awards, including first place for humorous commentary from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in 2022.[11][12] In April 2023, she was honored, along with the illustrators, by the BookFest Awards for her books Y is for Y'all[13], Wander Over Yonder[14], and Southern Thesaurus: For When You're Plumb Out of Things to Say[15]

References

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  1. ^ "About the Author". It's a Southern Thing. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  2. ^ "Some Nightmares Are Real". University of Alabama Press. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  3. ^ Kazek, Kelly (August 2009). Fairly Odd Mother: Musings of a Slightly Off Southern Mom. iUniverse. ISBN 978-1-4401-5706-6.
  4. ^ "Alabama Scoundrels". Arcadia Publishing. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  5. ^ "Charles Caldwell Obituary (2008) - Athens, AL - AL.com (Huntsville)". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  6. ^ Courier, The News (2011-11-08). "Biography of Kelly Kazek". Enewscourier.com. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  7. ^ a b Kazek, Kelly (2011-07-06). Hidden History of Auburn. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61423-388-6.
  8. ^ WebEditor (2009-10-01). "Do It Now: Live Your Dream". National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  9. ^ Press, The Associated (2010-08-19). "Kazek named APME president; Dothan Eagle wins award". Enewscourier.com. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  10. ^ "Our People". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  11. ^ "Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com". www.al.com. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  12. ^ staff, AL com (2022-07-02). "Alabama Media Group's Kelly Kazek wins national columnist award". al. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  13. ^ "Book Awards – Spring 2023 First Place". The BookFest. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  14. ^ "Wander Over Yonder". The BookFest. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  15. ^ "The Southern Thesaurus". The BookFest. Retrieved 2024-09-05.