Keith Lesmeister

Literature – Fiction


Decorah, IA
September 2022, two weeks

Keith Lesmeister is the author of the story collection “We Could’ve Been Happy Here” (MG Press, 2017). Based in Decorah, Iowa, his fiction has appeared in American Short Fiction, Gettysburg Review, New Stories from the Midwest, North American Review, Redivider, SLICE, Terrain.org, and many others. He received his M.F.A. from the Bennington Writing Seminars and serves as editor of Cutleaf.

At the Anderson Center, Keith worked on a novel focused on mental health, family, violence/crime, and basketball. The work-in-progress examples personal connections critical in helping us to imagine larger and better worlds to which we might instead belong if we take the necessary risks in pursuing those positive people and communities. During his residency, Keith offered a workshop to Red Wing High School English students.