kristen simental
Kristen Simental is a Mexican-American author and the founder and publisher of Five South. She’s had several pieces published in Friday Flash Fiction, The Los Angeles Press, Sheriff Nottingham, and The Los Angeles Review of Books PubLab. She is a twice Kenyon Writer’s Workshop Fellow, and a Los Angeles Review of Books Publishing Workshop Fellow. Her novella, “Why, Arizona” was one of two finalists for the 2019/20 deGroot Prize at the Miami Book Fair.
Video: Interview with Becky Tuch about our editorial process at Five South.
writing
fiction
Monsoon Season - Friday Flash Fiction
Hunger and Lonliness - 100 Words of Solitude
Unpatriotic - LARB PubLab
Up, Up, and Away - The Los Angeles Press
Skipping Stones - Sheriff Nottingham
A Few Words is a podcast about getting to the nuts and bolts of writing and discovering what makes writers tick.
May 2020 - May 2022
Editor-in-Chief, Five South
Managing editor, editor-in-chief, web design, podcast engineering, marketing, and wearer of many hats and manages a staff of seventeen readers and editors.
May 2022 - Present
Currently serving as founder, CFO, publisher, social media and marketing manager, human resources.
Education & Classes
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American Graphics Institute - Adobe InDesign
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The Wharton School - Marketing
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Southern New Hampshire University - English
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UC San Diego - Copyediting I and II
Workshops
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Second City Sketch Writing Workshop
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Robert McKee - Romance Screen Writing
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Robert McKee - Action Screen Writing
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Jerry B. Jenkins - Novel Writing
2019 & 2021
Kenyon Writer's Workshop
Kristen has been accepted to the Kenyon Writer's Workshop two years in a row.
Summer 2020
Los Angeles Review of Books Publishing Workshop Fellow
Attended the 6-week publishing workshop hosted by LARB.
2019/2020
Issue Editor, Fiction Editor Inscape
Curated, edited and designed the fall 2020 issue. Prose editor for the spring 2021 issue.