About Me

Hello, and thank you for visiting my site!

My name is Kristen Grafton, and I am a full-time teacher and a full-time writer. On this site, you will find all the links to my social media accounts as well as updates on my progress as a teacher or writer. But first, a little about me.

I graduated college in 2016 with a triple major in English (with a concentration in creative writing), political science, and history. Instead of choosing one interest, I decided to pursue all of them.

After college, I became a high school teacher in Florida. I taught English, AP Literature, United States History, American Sign Language, and Old Testament Bible. Teaching high school was a wonderful experience because I loved getting to work with my students every day.

During my time as a high school teacher, I enrolled in graduate school pursuing a Master’s in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition. I transitioned to working as a graduate assistant teaching first-year composition. The most interesting part of studying rhetoric, history, and politics was merging my three undergrad majors into one cohesive thesis. I graduated in May of 2020 with a Master’s in English rhetoric, and my thesis was awarded USF’s 2020 Outstanding Thesis Award.

After graduation, I returned to the high school classroom. I teach (or have taught) AP Language, AP Literature, Dual Enrollment Composition, Dual Enrollment Literature, 11th grade English, and 12th grade English. Returning to the high school classroom after a year of teaching at the university has made me a better teacher because I now know better what high school students need to know going into college. I also bring my experience with rhetorical analysis to the classroom to help students learn to analyze critically.

In my spare time, I work on several creative projects of my own. As of now, I have completed four young adult book-length manuscripts, and I currently have two others in the works. I also work on short stories and, when I’m in the mood, some poetry (it’s not my thing). In short stories, I like to explore the complexities of human thought and relationships. In books, I prefer to focus on the young adult age/genre and write the kinds of books I would have liked to read as a teenager or the kinds of books I’d like to see my students read. I completed Emerson College’s MFA in Popular Fiction and Publishing program to improve my craft, including a young adult contemporary novel as my thesis project. 

Thank you again for visiting! I hope you find this page helpful, and please feel free to contact me via the contact link at the top of the page.