Ken Krimstein is a biographer and graphic novelist based in Evanston, Illinois. He holds a BA in history from Grinnell College and an MS in journalism from Northwestern University. He has been a contributing cartoonist for the New Yorker since 2013. Krimstein’s work has also appeared in National Lampoon, Wall Street Journal, American Bystander, and Prospect, among others. He is the author of Kvetch as Kvetch Can: Jewish Cartoons (Clarkson-Potter, 2011), The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth (Bloomsbury, 2018), When I Grow Up: The Lost Autobiographies of Six Yiddish Teens (Bloomsbury, 2021), and Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell down the Rabbit Hole and Came Up with the Universe (Bloomsbury, August 2024). His books have received numerous recognitions, including an NPR Best Book of the Year, a Chicago Tribune “Best Read,” and a Washington Post Best Book of the Year for When I Grow Up; and a Bernard J. Bromel Award for Biography and Memoir for The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt. Krimstein has taught graphic writing at Grinnell College, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and DePaul University.
At the Academy, Krimstein is at work on a semi-autobiographical graphic novel set in his hometown of Deerfield, Illinois. Marching toward Normal will explore the town’s history of racial segregation, exemplified in a nationally publicized civil rights struggle over integration in the postwar suburban housing boom that attracted the attention of Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Through personal recollections as well as archival research, Krimstein’s explores this history in a coming-of-age story about race relations, remembrance, and forgetting in twentieth-century America.
Meet Ken Krimstein
A short portrait filmed at the Hans Arnhold Center, introducing the work and ideas behind fellows’ projects in Berlin.
Upcoming events
Discover what’s coming up in the Academy’s public program this semester.
Past events
Lectures, readings, and conversations from the Academy’s public program.
Berlin Journal Articles
Essays, interviews, and creative work published in the Academy’s annual magazine.
Books
Books written by fellows of the Academy, many begun during a semester in Berlin.
Videos
Lectures, readings, and conversations filmed at the Hans Arnhold Center.
Why Graphic Narratives (Comics) Are No Joke
Ken Krimstein explains graphic narrative, drawing New Yorker cartoons, and the function of story and form.
Fellow Spotlight: Ken Krimstein
Cartoonist Ken Krimstein is at work on a semi-autobiographical graphic novel set in his hometown of Deerfield, Illinois.
Explore Past Fellows
Hakim Abderrezak
Marco Abel
David Abraham
