A former ‘city girl,’ Friend lives on a small farm in southeastern Minnesota, where she and her wife Melissa raise sheep and cattle. She writes adult nonfiction, fiction, and children’s books.
The Compassionate Carnivore won the Minnesota Book Award in General Nonfiction. Her memoir, Hit by a Farm, was selected by the Minneapolis Star Tribune as one of the best books of 2006. Her children’s picture book, The Perfect Nest, was chosen by the Wall Street Journal as one of five best ‘read alouds,’ and was nominated for numerous state reading awards. She was awarded a Loft/McKnight Artist Fellowship for Writers, and her adult adventure novels have won awards from the Golden Crown Literary Society and the Independent Book Publishers Association.
Friend has a M.S. in Economics and a B.A. in Economics and Spanish. She does chores, teaches writing workshops, and speaks at libraries, yarn shops and fiber festivals, professional organizations, and schools. She’s discovered that farm chores and snowshoes make Minnesota winters bearable, and is especially proud she’s learned how to take the wool from her sheeps’ backs and knit it into very cool socks.
| Catherine received a 2007 Loft/McKnight Fellowship in Children's Literature. |
| Catherine was awarded a 2010 Alice B. Medal for her body of work. |
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| Hit By a Farm: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barn |
 Finalist for a Lambda Literary Award |
| Winner of a 2007 Golden Crown Literary Award |
| Finalist for The Publishing Triangle’s Judy Grahn Award |
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The Compassionate Carnivore, Or How to Keep Animals Happy,
Save Old MacDonald’s Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, and Still Eat Meat |
| Winner of the 2009 Minnesota Book Award in General Nonfiction |
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| The Perfect Nest |
| Winner of the 2009 Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Book Award |
| Finalist for the: |
| Nevada Young Readers’ Award |
| Minnesota Book Award |
| Arizona Grand Canyon Readers Award |
| Norfolk (U.K.) Children’s Book Award |
| California Young Readers’ Medal |
| New Hampshire Ladybug Picture Book Award |
| Debbie Zimmerman Niagara Literary Award |
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| A Pirate’s Heart |
| 2008 Lesbian Fiction Readers Choice Award |
| Winner of the 2008 Ben Franklin Award in Fiction (Independent Book Publishers Association) |
| Winner of a 2009 Golden Crown Literary Award |
| Finalist for a Lambda Literary Award |
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| The Spanish Pearl |
| Winner of a 2008 Golden Crown Literary Award |
| Finalist for a Gaylactic Spectrum Award |
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| The Crown of Valencia |
| Winner of a 2008 Golden Crown Literary Award |
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