Kristen Gragg

Kristen is a Ph.D. student in English Literature. She earned her B.A. in English, with highest distinction, from the University of Georgia and her M.A. in English from West Virginia University. Her primary research interests include magic, witchcraft, and the occult; interdisciplinary pedagogies; modern and early modern genealogies of horror; rural psychogeographies; and exploring how horror can empower (rather than simply monsterize) the “Other.”

Kristen currently has one publication, “‘To kill a wife with Kindness’: Contextualizing Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew,” in which she offers historical context for the Shrew Taming tradition in European art and, in doing so, argues that Petruchio’s treatment of Katherine is not as cruel as it may cursorily appear. She also recently earned a book grant for a video project, “Such Duty as the Subject Owes,” that explores the synergies between erasure poetry, collage filmmaking, and Shakespeare in adaptation.

In her spare time, Kristen enjoys playing asymmetrical horror games and designing themed tarot cards.