Kali Jo Van Baale is an American novelist. Her first novel, The Space Between, was awarded an American Book Award

American Book Award

The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...

 in 2007.

Life

She grew up in Bloomfield, Iowa

Bloomfield, Iowa

Bloomfield is a city in Davis County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,601 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Davis County.-Geography:Bloomfield is located in the southeastern part of Iowa near the Missouri border....

.

She attended Indian Hills Community College, University of Northern Iowa

University of Northern Iowa

The University of Northern Iowa is a college located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 120 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, and Social and Behavioral sciences, and graduate college.UNI has...

, Des Moines Area Community College, and Upper Iowa University

Upper Iowa University

Established in 1857, Upper Iowa University is a private institution of higher education with its residential campus located in northeast Iowa near the Volga River in the rural community of Fayette, where around 900 students are enrolled....

. And is currently attending the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

She married at 21. She lives in Bondurant, Iowa

Bondurant, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 3,860 in the city, with a population density of . There were 1,422 housing units, of which 1,362 were occupied....

 with her husband and three children: two boys and a girl.

Awards

• 2009 Iowa Arts Council major artist grant
• 2008 full scholarship to the Key West Literary Seminar
  Key West Literary Seminar
  The Key West Literary Seminar is a writers' conference and festival held each January in Key West, Florida. It draws an international audience for readings, panel discussions, and workshops.-History:...
  
   and selected for the Robert Stone Advanced Fiction Workshop, Mercy Road
• 2007 American Book Award
  American Book Award
  The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...
  
  , The Space Between
• 2007 Independent Publisher’s Silver Medal for General Fiction, The Space Between
• 2007 Iowa Reader Literary Award for Fiction, The Space Between
• 2006 Fred Bonnie Memorial First Novelist Award, The Space Between

External links

• Kali VanBaale, Iowa Center for the Book website
• "Book festival underway in Adel", Radio Iowa website
• "Bondurant woman’s book involves school shooting", Radio Iowa website