About Céline Keating

Céline Keating is an award-winning writer formerly of New York City and now living in Bristol, Rhode Island. She is the author of three novels, Layla (2011), a Huffington Post featured title, Play for Me (2015), a National Indie Excellence Book award finalist, and The Stark Beauty of Last Things (2023). The Stark Beauty of Last Things won gold in Regional Fiction (National Indie Excellence Award), bronze in Regional fiction (Independent Publishers Book Award, IPPY), and was a finalist in General Fiction and Literary Fiction, respectively (Eric Hoffer and NIEA).

Céline’s short fiction has been published in many literary magazines, including Appearances, Echoes, Emry’s Journal, Mount Hope, The North Stone Review, Prairie Schooner, and the Santa Clara Review. Her short story “Home” received the first-place 2014 Hackney Award for Short Fiction. An excerpt from her new novel received the 2021 First Place award in fiction at the Tucson Festival of Books.

A student of classical guitar, she is a regular contributor to guitar review site Minor7th.com. Her music journalism and other articles have appeared in Acoustic Guitar, Coastal Living, Guitar World, and Poets & Writers magazines. Céline is also the co-editor of On Montauk, A Literary Celebration.

Céline grew up in Queens, New York. She earned a Masters in Creative Writing from City College, CUNY. For many years a resident of Montauk, New York, she serves on the board of environmental organization Concerned Citizens of Montauk.