Coming September 2025 from Algonquin Books

Preorder at Bookshop or Amazon or Algonquin

“To escape a violent man, Karen Palmer had to disappear—a leap into unimaginable uncertainty that she landed, incredibly, over and over again. That’s the through line of this memoir, which shocked me by never turning where I expected and never resting on old narratives of trauma and victimhood. Palmer is a precise and wise storyteller. She takes us with her across the danger. This feels less like a redemption tale and more like a tandem skydive, just as terrifying and just as exhilarating. I can’t believe she pulled it off, but oh, the joy she wrought from this wild life.”
―Lacy Crawford, author of Notes on a Silencing

“I read this book in one sitting, hypnotized by Karen Palmer's urgent, fascinating life story and dazzling style. She's Under Here is a genuine tour-de-force, blistering with intelligence and dark wit, as Palmer ruthlessly interrogates the ethics of her past and steers us through the depths. This is an important work of literary art."
―Erika Krouse, author of Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation

"Palmer, who flees a violent ex with her children, reinventing herself out of constant fear and necessity, masterfully illustrates that no woman's life is ever only One Thing . . . Heart-pounding, illuminating, and ominously timeless."
Gina Frangello, author of Blow Your House Down

photo of author Karen Palmer

About the Author

Karen Palmer is a Pushcart Prize winner and has received grants from the NEA and the Colorado Council on the Arts. She's Under Here grew out of her award-winning essay The Reader Is the Protagonist, first published in Virginia Quarterly Review and selected by Leslie Jamison for inclusion in Best American Essays 2017. She is the author of the novels All Saints and Border Dogs. More recently her short story Birds of Paradise won the 2022 Emily Clark Balch Prize for Fiction. Her writing has appeared in The Rumpus, The Kenyon Review, Arts & Letters, and Kalliope, among others.

A native of Los Angeles, Karen spent twelve years in Catholic schools, plus seven more off-and-on years in college, but her education largely took place at the Cahuenga Branch of the L.A. Public Library. She trained as a classical pianist and has worked jobs of all kinds; the most useful of these taught her graphic design and typography, which came in handy in 1989 when she changed her identity. She currently teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, CO, and lives with her husband in California.

News

-Want to go to the best writer camp ever? Lighthouse Writers' annual summer retreat in Grand Lake, CO, features instructors Andrea Dupree, Mike Henry, Erika Krouse, Juan Morales, Suzi Q. Smith—and me (it's my 20th year!). Dates: July 13–18. Registration: lighthousewriters.org/retreats

Events

Dates TK!

Contact

Inquiries about rights and reprints should be directed to:

Susan Ramer
Don Congdon Associates
88 Pine Street, Suite 730
New York, NY 10005
212-645-1229
dca AT doncongdon (dot) com

Contact Karen by email at: karenpalm AT gmail (dot) com
Follow Karen on
Bluesky
Friend Karen on
Facebook

B&W photo of the author at age 5. Taken by Joe Rosenthal, who photographed soldiers planting the flag at Iwo Jima.

Publications

All Saints
”This stunning debut novel weaves the stories of three lonely people into a lyrical tale of hope.” —Washington Post
”A gumbo of sex and blues, religion and death, racism and revenge.” —New York Times
”Taut. Vivid.” Entertainment Weekly

Border Dogs
”A fascinating look at at lives that straddle borders both physical and figurative.” —Rocky Mountain News
”Two deaths catalyze a suspenseful unraveling of secrets and lies.” —San Diego Union Tribune
”Written with skill and courage. Palmer does the big scenes as perfectly as the small.” —Chicago Tribune

Essays
The Reader Is the Protagonist” [Virginia Quarterly Review; Best American Essays 2017]
”According to the Map” [Arts & Letters]
All Those Stars” [The Rumpus]
”The Defiant Heart” [Manifest Station]

Short Stories
Virtuoso Mio [Pushcart Prize XXIX; downloadable PDF]
Birds of Paradise” [Virginia Quarterly Review; Emily Balch Clark Prize for fiction]
”Over the Roof is Out: [Five Points]
The Matchmaker” [James Franco Review]
”Getting Rid of the
Egg” [Kalliope]

Cover of novel ALL SAINTS.
Cover of anthology THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2017
Cover of novel BORDER DOGS