Kristin Berkey-Abbott earned a Ph.D. in British Literature from the University of South Carolina. She has published in many journals and was one of the top ten finalists in the National Looking Glass Poetry Chapbook Competition. Pudding House Publications published her chapbook, Whistling Past the Graveyard, in 2004. Currently, she teaches English and Creative Writing at the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale and serves as Chair of the General Education department.

Books by Kristin Berkey-Abbott:

Other poems on the web by Kristin Berkey-Abbott:
"Land of Ruin"
Five poems
Two poems
"Beach Glass"

Kristin Berkey-Abbott's Blog.

Kristin Berkey-Abbott's Website.

About I Stand Here Shredding Documents:

"'You have bought the American myth,' writes Kristin Berkey-Abbott in her chapbook, I Stand Here Shredding Documents. In these inviting and engaging poems, Berkey-Abbott explores our present culture with an observational nod to both the routine and ridiculousness of it. Her poems move effortlessly from Penelope to fairytales to Coco Chanel questioning everyday life and our work: 'All I really need is a catchy/name, the latest icon to wear it as a logo.' Her poems skillfully bring us in to a working world where there's a lingering concern that normal life may not be as normal as we believe. Her words entertain: 'How can I be a woman of mystery/when you see the contents of my grocery cart?' Yes, daily tasks are all around us, but through Berkey-Abbott's poems they transform from the common to the uncommon and 'In the end, modern/ life surprises the wolf.'"
—Kelli Russell Agodon

"In I Stand Here Shredding Documents, Kristin Berkey-Abbott confronts the compromises of modern life, in which so many of the accomplishments touted as magic seeds a higher education, a steady job, a family-fail to yield the promised crops of happiness. In poems such as 'Penelope in the Office Cubicle' and 'Meeting Hell,' Berkey-Abbott uses humor and allusion to evoke these dead-end Odysseys: 'During meetings, she conjugates / every French verb that she can remember,' the poet observes, 'In this way, she sublimates / her desire to dismember.' Brutal in its truths and honest in its yearnings, this collection will resonate with anyone who has ever wondered 'How can I be a woman of mystery / when you see the contents of my grocery cart?'"
—Sandra Beasley