welcome to the gone gnomin' library.

this is a creative space that seeks to reduce the pressure, lower the stakes, and play with the structures and focus of life. where meaning is questioned. where rules are broken. where whole dictionaries of definitions are rewritten.

the gnome

i can't now recall how the phrase gone gnomin' first came to me, but it has been with me for several years.

gnomes themselves first came to me in a library, the irony of which is just now hitting me. a book by Wil Huygen caught my eye on an 'oversized book' shelf, the spine of which simply read: GNOMES. hilarious and highly descriptive with gorgeous illustrations by Rien Poortvliet, the whimsical seriousness of the book captivated me. i returned to it whenever i needed a break from writing.

years later, while shopping in a used book store i came across a copy. it came home with me that day - and gone gnomin' took root.

your librarian

i've been a writer, thinker, supporter, organizer, questioner and creator my whole life. the mediator of the family, open and vulnerable to everyone's emotions. i think and feel deeply. always sticking up for others, reducing the pressure and lowering the stakes.

my focus lately has been on meaning-making and perspective. how our thoughts affect our success and how we can break and remake some of the rules we've been following our whole lives.

take a look around, be as loud as you want. i'm glad you're here.

-kat

original photo by breeze art photography

edited by katelyn pfaff

formal education

coursera certification: introduction to philosophy

university of edinburgh

graduate courses in writing, rhetoric, & discourse

depaul university

peer writing tutor for university students

bachelor’s in english with minor in spanish

eastern illinois university

writing tutor for student athletes

published works

For Remembering

by Katelyn Pfaff

Paperback published 2022

A collection of 24 poems written while reprogramming my brain for positive thinking and self trust. My goal was to create a collection of thought that would remind me of the ease and joy that are always available to me, in the heavy moments when I might forget. To remind me that my identity is fluid, that I am here to change and be different. And, perhaps most importantly, to remind me to have fun with it all - to play. Reflections and ideas, not answers or truths. A space for remembering how it can be.

Experiments for the Observer

by Katelyn Pfaff

Paperback published 2024

the title of this book references one of the most powerful experiments i have run to date: that of treating my mind as the observer in this life, rather than the driver it often thinks it is. the observer of my body, of the messages and authority that are inherent to my bones, of my body’s relationship to this world and the experiences it moves through. my mind is the storyteller, making meaning of these observations and storing that meaning away for future use.

the experiments, ideas, and perspectives in the following pages have nourished the observer within me, and have made it easier to hold meaning loosely.