Rick Kemp

Rick Kemp was born in Baltimore in 1966. He has primarily lived in Maryland for most of his life, and currently lives in Lake Linganore, Maryland. He has also lived in California, Florida, Texas, Illinois, England, and Germany.

Rick is an associate professor at the University of Maryland University College where he chairs the creative writing courses. He graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1998, from the University of Miami master's creative writing program in 2001, from the Johns Hopkins University master's creative writing program in 2003, and is currently completing his PhD in education.

Rick is a winner of the prestigious Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics. He is a James A. Michener Fellow, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. His publications appear in Skin Diver scuba magazine, Rosebud, the Powhatan Review, Mass Ave Review, Bartleby, The Raven Review, the Baltimore Sun, Stars & Stripes (Europe), Creative Arts Journal, Mangrove, and Mango, among numerous other publications.

Rick's family, the subject of many of his works, were sharecroppers on farms in South Carolina until the 1960s when they moved to Baltimore. He has grown up hearing the tales of the white dog, the heart that wouldn't burn in the fire, the ghosts in the graveyard--stories that have trickled down into his writing. Other story material comes from the numerous jobs he has held, from working on a golf course to being in the Air Force, from building swimming pools to teaching high school.

Rick lives in Lake Linganore, Maryland, with Tabitha, his wife, and his four children--Aiden, Tristen, Linnea, and Evan.