Katie Winkler

Fletcher, North Carolina

In the thirty-plus years Katie Winkler (she/her) has lived in the mountains of western North Carolina, she has been active in the theater community as a writer, actor, director, publicist, reporter, and reviewer, working with various theater organizations, including Blue Ridge Community College’s theater department, Hendersonville Theatre, and Flat Rock Playhouse, the State Theater of North Carolina. Four of her plays have been produced, including the musical A Carolina Story with music by Curtis McCarley, which was produced a second time to benefit the Student Emergency Grant and Loan Fund at Blue Ridge Community College. In addition, she has participated in workshops and readings at the Burning Coal Theater in Raleigh, NC, the Southeastern Theater Conference, and Hendersonville Theatre. For a decade she wrote regular theater reviews and feature articles about the arts for the Hendersonville Times-News. Winkler often draws inspiration from some of history’s greatest works such as The Book of Job, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Elizabeth Browning’s Sonnets of the Portuguese, and Robert Browning’s masterpiece, The Ring and the Book. Recurring themes in her work include family bonds, the strength and courage of women, the process of grief, and the healing power of friendship and love. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the North Carolina Writers’ Network.