Literary Courage as a Roadmap to Activism

A Conversation with Kathy Kelly

Authors

  • Thalia Ostendorf University of St. Andrews

Abstract

American pacifist and peace activist Kathy Kelly talks about some of the key experiences, decisions, and books that shaped her views and activism. Her experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, of breaking sanctions, bringing medicine and bearing witness to the effects U.S. military policy has on the lives of those targeted, is central to her work. On the basis of war literature between World War I and the present, she discusses the way these narratives (ranging from poetry to film, to non-fiction) can help shape our conceptions of fear and courage, and how we might question and overcome certain fears in favour of action.

Author Biography

  • Thalia Ostendorf, University of St. Andrews

    Thalia Ostendorf is a PhD candidate at the University of St. Andrews, in the departments of Social Anthropology and Modern Languages. Her research focuses on war literature and its influence on contemporary peace activism and remembrance practices in the U.K. and the U.S. She is also a cofounder of Uitgeverij Chaos (Chaos Press).

Downloads

Published

2026-04-18

Issue

Vol. 34 No. 1 (2021): Literature and Activism

Section

Interviews

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Ostendorf, T. (2026). Literary Courage as a Roadmap to Activism: A Conversation with Kathy Kelly. FRAME, Journal of Literary Studies, 34(1), 73-87. https://platform.openjournals.nl/FRAME/article/view/27206