Kim Hruba
Kim Hruba
218-469-0204
kim@redshoeswriting.com
Kim is from Warroad. She offers writing residencies.
“When I was a kid I wanted to be Jane Goodall. Not because I wanted to study chimpanzees and live in Africa, but because I wanted to experience the world. While the beds we sleep in, the clothes we wear and the breakfasts we eat might vary from culture to culture, I discovered ultimately that most people all have similar objectives: to be happy and to take care of their families. My journey as a writer has been a long, winding path through four countries and many journals which ultimately brought me to novel writing and my business of creating content for non-writers. In fiction, I use popular culture and humor as vehicles to explore the human condition. Being a global citizen informs my writing, and themes prevalent in my work include cultural diversity, gender roles, family relationships, perceptions & stereotypes, and, most recently, etiquette and its role in society. As a content creator, the two driving questions are always: Who is the audience and what is the message? I help people identify and craft their own messages and bring them to the world in written form.”
Kim Hruba is a novelist and content creator through her business, Red Shoes Writing Solutions. She has a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Minnesota and certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) from Hamline University. Her international experience includes studying in Belgium and the Netherlands, and teaching at a Berlitz Language School in the Czech Republic. After returning to Minnesota, she volunteered for several years with an international student exchange program and founded Girls Lead, a girls’ leadership program in northern Minnesota. Outside of writing, her more recent endeavors include motivational speaking and teaching workshops on writing and publishing. She is a member of the Star of the North Toastmasters club and was the 2017 Toastmasters International District 64 Tall Tales champion. Currently, she resides in Warroad, Minnesota and balances her writing life raising five children with her Czech husband. Her debut novel is a romantic comedy called Elevator Girl and she is working on publication of her second book, Etiquette Girl. In her free time, Hruba enjoys knitting, volunteering, and sledding on the very small hill in her backyard.
Residency: Your Words Matter – Sharing Your Message
Your words matter because you matter.
If you could tell the world just one thing, what would it be? During this residency, students will come to learn how writing is the starting point for any endeavor, beginning with sharing their own “message” with the world. Through writing exercises, free writing, and journaling, students practice writing first for themselves. From there, we progress outwards through the concentric circles of external audiences from friends and family to the greater world. Using the body of work created during the residency, students identify a “message” that is important to them to be communicated in a final project of public art. The public art piece pairs a student’s passions with a form of artistic expression that they already enjoy or have an interest in.
I enjoy working with educator(s) to tailor an art residency that meets specific goals or curriculum requirements. All projects can be adapted to fit the needs of the class and goals and preferences of the teachers. Mainly for grades 7-12.
So. What matters to you?