As a journalist and novelist, Stephen P. Kiernan has published nearly five million words. His newspaper work garnered dozens of awards — including the George Polk Award for medical reporting, the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award, and the Freedom of Information Award from the Joseph Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida.
Stephen’s newest novel, THE GLASS CHATEAU, will be out June 20, 2023. He is also author of the novels UNIVERSE OF TWO, THE CURIOSITY (now in television series development), THE BAKER'S SECRET (a regional bestseller), and THE HUMMINGBIRD. He has also written two nonfiction books, LAST RIGHTS and AUTHENTIC PATRIOTISM. His work has been translated into many languages.
Stephen was born in Newtonville, NY the sixth of seven children. A graduate of Middlebury College, he received a Master of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He has chaired the board of the Young Writers Project, served on the Vermont Legislative Committee on Pain and Palliative Care, and served on the advisory board of the New Hampshire Palliative Care Initiative. He has spoken and consulted around the country about hospice, palliative care and advance directives.
He has also been a member of the board of the Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation, and currently serves on the Vermont chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Stephen has twice received the Denis Didierot writer-in-residence fellowship to the Chateau d’Orquevaux artists’ colony in eastern France, as well as a New York Newspaper Foundation residency at the Yaddo artists’ colony in Saratoga, NY.
Stephen spent many years on the staff of the Breadloaf Writers Conference, and one year on the staff of the Breadloaf School of English.
A performer on the guitar since he was ten years old, Stephen has recorded 3 CDs of solo instrumentals, and composed music for dance, the stage and documentary films.
He lives in Vermont.
To hear Stephen read from THE HUMMINGBIRD, click here. (You'll need to be a Facebook user for the link to work)
Stephen's views on end-of-life care are featured in the award winning documentary, Consider the Conversation. To view a portion of his interview, click here.
To see Stephen's TEDx talk about AUTHENTIC PATRIOTISM, click here.
To hear Stephen read from THE CURIOSITY before it was published, click here.