Austin Kleon

Austin Kleon is an American writer and artist who makes books about how creativity works in everyday life. Combining handwritten notes, drawings, collage and concise essays, he turns broad questions about inspiration and artistic identity into practical invitations to make, share and sustain creative work.

Born in Circleville, Ohio, in 1983, Kleon studied interdisciplinary subjects at Miami University. Before writing full-time, he worked as a librarian, web designer and advertising copywriter—roles that sharpened his interest in how words, images and information can be rearranged to create new meaning.

That approach is especially visible in Newspaper Blackout, a collection of poems made by covering most of the words in newspaper articles with a permanent marker and leaving selected phrases visible. The project made the act of editing itself into a form of drawing and showed how creative work can begin by responding to material already close at hand.

His illustrated bestseller Steal Like an Artist encourages readers to study their influences, combine ideas and develop a voice through practice. Show Your Work! explores how sharing the process can help creative people connect with an audience, while Keep Going considers how to protect curiosity and momentum through uncertainty. Don’t Call It Art returns to play, experimentation and the creative freedom of childhood.

Alongside his books and speaking, Kleon publishes a long-running blog and newsletter filled with reading notes, drawings, quotations and observations from his studio. His work treats creativity not as a rare flash of genius, but as a repeatable practice shaped by attention, generosity and an openness to influence.