Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt

Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt is a poet, freelance writer and author of Lebanese and Sicilian descent. A first-generation college graduate, she is the author of more than 13 books, including a Silver Award winner from the Nonfiction Authors Association, an Amazon bestselling children's book, a BookFest First Place award winner, and a Library of Virginia 2024 Literary Awards nominated collection. She was the winner of the 2026 Carolina Prize, and her work has been featured in Botanical Garden of the Piedmont. Since the early 1990s, her poetry has appeared in Yankee, Frogpond, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Miracle Monocle’s anthology You Blew It, Southern Quill, BigCityLit, Haiku Canada, Panoply, North of Oxford, ONE ART and dozens of others. Katherine has written articles for Prince William Living and Haymarket-Gainesville Lifestyle magazines, The Central Virginian newspaper and other regional media outlets. Katherine has won poetry awards from Poetry Society of Virginia, Virginia Writers Club, Loudoun County Library Foundation, Prince William County Arts Council, Poetry Super Highway, and various publications. Her poem “Now Entering Manassas” was included in a time capsule as part of the City of Manassas, Virginia’s 150th anniversary celebration. A founding member of Write by the Rails, the Prince William Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club, Katherine went on to found Write In Louisa through a partnership with Louisa Arts Center. Learn more about her work at KatherineGotthardt.com.