Karen Kirsten
Photo Credit: © Liz Linder

Karen Kirsten

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A former marketing executive, Karen Kirsten is an Australian-American writer, genocide educator and refugee advocate. Raised in Australia by a Holocaust survivor mother and grandparents who silenced her questions about extermination camps, Karen lectures around the world on hatred and reconciliation. Karen has lived in five countries across three continents and now calls Massachusetts, USA, home.

Books by Karen Kirsten
Irena's Gift
Karen Kirsten

If we seal off the past, how will we ever know the truth?

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Awards & recognition

US National Jewish Book Award (Autobiography and Memoir)

Finalist  •  2025  •  The Nation­al Jew­ish Book Awards is the longest-run­ning North Amer­i­can awards pro­gram of its kind and is rec­og­nized as the most pres­ti­gious. The Awards are intend­ed to rec­og­nize authors and encour­age the read­ing of out­stand­ing Eng­lish-lan­guage books of Jew­ish interest.

More features

Article
Why Karen Kirsten chose to share her family’s true World War II story

Karen Kirsten shares what it was like writing her family history and the research process behind her new book, Irena’s Gift.

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