Kathren "Kat" Whitham was born in Tokyo but has lived in the Pacific Northwest most of her life. She is a multiracial Japanese American visual artist and English instructor at South Seattle College where she teaches composition, creative writing, film studies, and literature. She also facilitates professional development workshops for K-12 teachers through the University of Washington’s East Asia Resource Center. When she's not teaching, Kat draws and paints, and shows her work at local art walks and community art centers in West Seattle.
Since September 2024, Kat has been collaborating with journalist Kathryn Tolbert, to create a graphic memoir based on Tolbert's extensive research and interviews.
Visual Storytelling Workshops, Writer Residencies, and Classes
Looking Glass Arts Goldfinch Writers' Residency, West Fulton, NY August 2025
Visual Storytelling with Kelcey Ervick, Shakerag Workshops, Sewanee, TN June 2025
"Graphic Novel Intensive" course with Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW), April - November 2025
"Level Up Your Lettering: Create a Custom Font and Master Text in Comics" with K. Woodman-Maynard and Susannah Hainley, March 2025
Facilitator for UW East Asia Resource Center professional development workshops on teaching graphic memoirs by Teresa Wong, Hiromi Goto, Robin Ha, and Malaka Gharib. 2021 - 2025.
Visual storytelling courses developed & taught by Kat at South Seattle College: Literature - Intro to Graphic Novels; Humanities - Art, Identity & Storytelling; Creative Writing - Diary Comics, Illustrated Haiku, and Graphic Stories; and Research Comp - Autoethnography in Text & Image.