Kevin Kling

Kevin Kling is an American storyteller and a commentator for National Public Radio. Kling grew up in Osseo, Minnesota, and graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. He began his career in the Twin Cities during the 1990s with two plays that wrote: 21A and Fear and Loving in Minneapolis. His one-man show Home and Away premiered at the Seattle Repertory Theatre and then moved to Second Stage Theatre (NYC) under the direction of David Esbjornson, also a Gustavus Adolphus College alumnus. Kling and Minneapolis-based accordionist and singer Simone Perrin have collaborated on two works, How? How? Why? Why? and Breakin' Hearts and Takin' Names. In 1993, Kling won the Whiting Award for drama. In 2009, he won the A. P. Anderson Award for Outstanding Contributions to Literature and the Arts in Minnesota.Kling has also made regular storytelling contributions to NPR’s All Things Considered. He has released several CD collections, including a boxed set, Collected Stories. His first published book of short stories was The Dog Says How followed by four more titles. Kling has not been slowed in his work by a birth defect that shriveled his left arm and a motorcycle accident that completely paralyzed his right arm.