Erin Aubry Kaplan

For the participant in American reality television series, see Erin Kaplan.

Erin Aubry Kaplan
Erin Aubry Kaplan February, 2016
Born	(1962-01-06) January 6, 1962
Occupation	Journalist
Nationality	American
Spouse	Alan Kaplan, Born 8/9/55, Died 8/29/2015

Erin Aubry Kaplan is a Los Angeles journalist and columnist born in 1962^[1] who has written about African-American political, economic and cultural issues since 1992.^[2]^[3] She is a contributing writer to the op-ed section of the Los Angeles Times,^[4]^[5] and from 2005 to 2007 was a weekly op-ed columnist – the first black weekly op-ed columnist in the paper’s recent history.^[6] She has been a staff writer and columnist for the LA Weekly^[7] and a regular contributor for many publications, including Salon.com,^[8] Essence (magazine),^[9]^[10]^[11] and Ms. (magazine)^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]

Kaplan is also a regular columnist for make/shift, a quarterly, cutting-edge feminist magazine that launched in 2007.^[16]

As a journalist, Erin injects the personal in features, commentary, criticism and essays. For example, "The Butt," an essay for the LA Weekly examined the many social and psychological ramifications of having the pronounced backside she finds typical of black women.^[17] Another Weekly piece, "Blue Like Me," explored the modern connections between her own long battle with depression, family history and the still-distressing state of the race.^[18] That piece won the PEN USA 2001 award for journalism.^[19]

Erin’s essays have been anthologized is several books, including (as Erin Aubry) "Mothers Who Think: Tales of Real-Life Parenthood" (Villard, Washington Square Press),^[20] "Step Into A World" (Wiley & Sons)^[21] and "Rise Up Singing: Black Women Writers on Motherhood" (Doubleday).^[22] The last book’s contributors include Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks and Alice Walker, and won an American Book Award in 2005.^[23]

Erin has published two books. Her first book is a collection of essays and reportage titled "Black Talk, Blue Thoughts and Walking the Color Line: Dispaches From a Black Journalista," was published in 2011.^[24]^[25] Her second book, "I Heart Obama," an extended essay about the cultural and personal meaning of the first black American president, was published in 2016.^[26]

Erin was born and raised in Los Angeles, though her family is originally from New Orleans. She was married to Alan Kaplan, a Los Angeles high school history teacher, for 15 years. He died in 2015.^[27] Kaplan holds an MFA from University of California, Los Angeles.^[28] She teaches creative writing at Antioch University Los Angeles.^[29]

References

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