Kristen Radtke is the author of the graphic nonfiction book Imagine Wanting Only This (2017), and Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness (July 2021), for which she received a 2019 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant.
Kristen was born and raised in Green Bay, but now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is the art director and deputy publisher of The Believer magazine and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s, Marie Claire, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Elle, Vogue, NPR.org, and many other places.
Although Radtke began writing Seek You years before the Covid-19 pandemic, perhaps no other global event in modern history better aligns with the book’s obsession. As the world grapples with loneliness and isolation, Seek You explores these feelings directly and shows the universality of such experiences.
Kristen Radtke has established herself as a pioneer of the graphic essay. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, TheAtlantic, Vogue, GQ, and Oxford American. She is the art director of The Believer and she has contacts and fans everywhere.
"[Radtke] portrays loneliness not as innate or natural so much as socialized, filtered through and irradiated by culture, politics, and media. For her, the feeling is shaped by the imperfect conditions in which we live. . . . Paging through Radtke’s book, I was again pulled in by the deserted streets and darkened rooms, and by the anonymous, sifting crowds. Ambience can go where words cannot. One can sink deep into the images of Seek You.”
—The New Yorker
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