Lauren Kessler in an award-winning author of 16 books, including her 2026 debut memoir, Everything Changes Everything, which has received critical acclaim and 5-star review readers.
Everything Changes Everything is Lauren’s most personal work to date. After facing unimaginable loss, she embarks on a five-hundred-mile pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago, carrying a pack that was too heavy and emotional baggage that was heavier still.
Lauren’s memoir takes readers down a path of grief and hardship to a place of hope and optimism with the skill of an immersion reporter and an open heart.
Everything Changes Everything
Love, Loss, and a Really Long Walk
1st Place, 2026 Society for Features Journalism
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1st Place, 2026 Project Reporting, Best of the West
1st Place, 2026 Society for Features Journalism 〰️ 1st Place, 2026 Project Reporting, Best of the West
Oregon Book Award
Literary Arts
Lauren is the only 3X winner of the prestigious Oregon Book Award for her narrative nonfiction works, Free, Counter Clock Wise, and Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimers.
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Works by Lauren
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Books
Be curious, inspired, and moved by these richly-detailed stories about real people. The power of fact. The resonance of fiction
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Articles
What do I write about? Well, everything. Exotic plant smuggling, Death with Dignity, Mr. Potato Head, the art and craft of nonfiction. And more.
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Blogs
Enjoy these bite-sized essays on love, life, loss, challenges, politics, prisons, and chickens.