Katherine Dykstra (she/her)
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katherinedykstra.bsky.social
Katherine Dykstra (she/her)
@katherinedykstra.bsky.social
author of WHAT HAPPENED TO PAULA: An Unsolved Death and the Danger of American Girlhood (W.W.Norton); words in New York Times, Washington Post and elsewhere; mother; gardener; teacher; woman
Pinned
I wrote this essay using research I conducted for the novel I’m just finishing. Now I’m thinking of other ways to write about everything I’ve learned about maternity homes and the ways unwanted pregnancies have been handled historically here in the United States.

www.guernicamag.com/postpartum/
Postpartum
Her swollen breasts leaked colostrum through a printed green sheath dress that she had sewn herself.
www.guernicamag.com
And how do I get rid of CoPilot on @microsoft ? It is sending me into a rage
January 16, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Relatedly, an @nbcnews.com reporter approached my 11-year-old and his friend to sit for an on-camera interview about the fact their school was closed under threat of violence. Are we interviewing minors without parental consent these days?
January 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Our school district was closed today in response to a credible threat of violence.

With nothing to do, I drove my 11-year-old and his friend to a movie, alone for the first time. When we arrived, I tried to drop them, but they looked like lost puppies. Want me to walk you in? I asked

(a thread)
January 13, 2025 at 10:29 PM
For decades the invention of the rape kit was credited to Sargent Louis Vitullo of the Chicago PD, but the true brains behind the rape kit were a woman’s (shocker). Martha Goddard was her name. What fun to consider THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE RAPE KIT, about a wrong righted, for @bostonglobe.com
January 13, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Reposted by Katherine Dykstra (she/her)
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law Monday to prohibit public and school libraries from banning books in the state and to enshrine protections against civil and criminal charges for librarians who comply with the law.
December 9, 2024 at 11:20 PM
I wrote this essay using research I conducted for the novel I’m just finishing. Now I’m thinking of other ways to write about everything I’ve learned about maternity homes and the ways unwanted pregnancies have been handled historically here in the United States.

www.guernicamag.com/postpartum/
Postpartum
Her swollen breasts leaked colostrum through a printed green sheath dress that she had sewn herself.
www.guernicamag.com
December 6, 2024 at 5:10 PM
The ending of this thriller, about a 12-year-old New Zealander who longs to be teacher’s pet, which I read in record time, twisted me in the best way. Still not sure what to think. Who else reads Catherine Chidgey?
December 5, 2024 at 1:02 AM
Before the holiday I sent the novel I’ve been working on for years to my agent, and rather than accomplished, I’m feeling completely adrift.

Like my best friend moved far far away and I don’t have a clue when I’ll see her again… sob.
December 2, 2024 at 5:54 PM
Who else has helped place their parents in assisted living?

Attorneys: DO NOT sign an AL contract for your parent.

AL facility: Your parent can’t live here unless you sign.

Another broken system. What are people with aging parents to do?
November 22, 2024 at 8:20 PM