Internationally published poet Kathy Kopp does not rush through the world.  She goes slowly, noticing the dusty woods dandruff on the spruce and the small-town man with his chain saw, carving a Big Foot from a ten-foot log.  Her versions of the rodeo on the res and the ordinary hike are "mysterious circles on the landscape where meaning and sympathy are born."  (Fr. Hugh Feiss, Monastery of the Ascension, Jerome, Idaho.)  Kathy comes from an artistic family, having arrived in Montana with her composer father from Maine (her best memories) and Illinois.  She studied harpsichord in West Berlin from 1964-66.  After working as a secretary and telephone interviewer back in Montana, she veered toward writing as a natural outlet.  By the late seventies, she was taking poetry classes at the University of Montana with Richard Hugo (a student of Theodore Roethke) and others, including Tess Gallagher, who helped her find her voice.  Finding your voice can take 15-20 years.  Once you've found it, why not use it?  Kathy has been a member of small writing groups all along, including groups made up of serious poets who meet every month to critique each other's new writing.  At the present time, Kathy is a member of the Montana Writer's Guild and the Idaho Writer's League.  She has given readings at Barnes & Noble, the Missoula Art Museum and local bookstores.  Her first book, Mad Dance of Bees, was published in May 2003 and is available on AuthorsDen, or contact the author.  It's a collection of her illustrated poems, mostly narrative and full of strong imagery.  She is now working on her second book of poems.  Kathy lives in rural Montana with her life partner and three cats.  She looks forward to seeing her grown daughter, Rachel, and her granddaughter, Mia, who is 3 1/2 .  They live in nearby Missoula.  Kathy teaches piano lessons and works as a shopkeeper with her partner in their Rock and Gem store.  Kathy also attends Gem Shows as a dealer in gemstone and jewelry merchandise. 

Honorable mention in Writers Digest "Joy of Writing" national contest.

Second place winner in national contest for International Library of Poets.

In England, publication of the poem "Sisters",
in Winter 2003 issue of Poetry Nottingham International.
 
"Madingley Road" published in Konfluence Magazine, Middlesex, England, 1/03.
 
Poetry Midwest, on-line journal, Issue 4,2007.
"Swimming in Milkthistle"

Nine poems were published in Newsletter Inago, Tuscon, AZ. June 2004 issue. Kathy was the Featured Poet for that issue.

Poem "Pillar Falls" in Anthology, Preserving the Past.

"Crossing to Alaska" appeared in The Desert Chronicle of Idaho.

Two poems, "The Trail" and "Crossing to Alaska" were published locally in "The Masthead" magazine based in Missoula, Montana.

Five poems appeared in the anthology "Montana Voices." Montana Writer's Guild. 2006

Triggering magazine, Missoula, MT. 2003

Hellgate Breezes, Missoula, Montana, published
"Pillar Falls", January 2008.

An Author's Home, on-line February 2008. Three poems. http://www.authorshomewebpage.com

Mad Dance of Bees -- a book of 44 original poems, illustrated, perfect bound, 60 pgs.
Released May 21, 2003, UM Printing & Graphics Services. ISBN 0-9727122-0-8

Contact author, or the book is available on www.authorsden/kathykopp