Heidi Kraay’s writing is vulnerable and real. As a playwright, author, poet and theater professor, their work explores themes of self-acceptance and empathy, as well as fractured selves and experiences like grief, fear and change.
After releasing the second edition of her book, “12 Lifetimes: A Century Cycle”, Heidi welcomed the outside world to connect with her deeply personal work through a reading and musical performance she called “Cycles of Words and Music”.
Ethereal acoustic song floated through the Hemingway Center on Friday, Nov. 7 as a small crowd gathered for an evening of poetry and song. Guests sat in a circle, facing one another, as music immersed them in Kraay’s creative works.
As Kraay read excerpts from their book, their longtime collaborator, Nick Jaina, accompanied her on guitar and piano.
Kraay read passages reflecting on challenges she has faced throughout her life, such as dealing with the loss of loved ones and life during the pandemic. The stories mirror a journal entry, following trains of thought directly from Kraay’s lived experiences.
“A theme that arises a lot for me [in my work] is hidden monsters,” Kraay said. “It’s this part of us that we want to deny, that we want to push down. The thing that we probably need to do, or that I’ve learned that I need to do, is welcome that part in, to not only heal myself but to accept myself as a whole being.”
Through her plays and creative writing, Kraay uses layered, complex characters and storylines as metaphors for the human experience, often drawing inspiration from her own psyche.
“My hope is to help [others] see the parts in ourselves that we don’t love, and actually [start to] love them so we can connect more with each other,” they said.
Kraay grew up as a “military brat”, frequently moving to different cities with her family.
According to Kraay, the constant movement in their childhood served as “good training grounds” for becoming a writer.
She said she often found herself thrust into “observer mode”, sitting on the outskirts of social groups. Always being the “new person” taught her observational skills, which she said are “really useful for playwriting”.
“I [explore] themes of running away and leaving and traveling, and also a lot of different places where I grew up or spent a lot of time,” they said. “Place has become a really big important factor in my work.”
Kraay and her sister both felt drawn to the arts, but while her sister went into acting, Kraay was drawn to a different form — writing for the stage.
She immersed herself in playwriting through her education, graduating from Boise State with a degree in Theater Arts before attending graduate school in San Francisco.
Kraay said she wasn’t immediately gifted at the playwriting form, but was passionate and determined to improve her craft. While writing for the stage was a challenge at the start, they found fulfillment in its collaborative nature, noting feelings of connection with the audience.
“There’s this thing that happens to us when we’re in sync in some way or when we’re doing something similar,” they explained. “What the audience often does when we’re watching — because of mirror neurons — is like we’re participating in what’s happening. There’s something that almost feels spiritual about that, when our brains are aligned and our heartbeats are aligned.”
Kraay occasionally collaborates with her actor sister, Kate Kraay. The complexity of Kraay’s work isn’t for everyone, but her sister’s background in clowning, physical and Shakespearean acting makes her a good fit for Kraay’s scripts.
“I’m really interested in the stuff that’s kind of impossible, which is why it is hard for my plays to get produced,” Kraay said. “They ask a lot of the physicality of the actors, and actors like my sister are amazing at working with that.”
With her book, “12 Lifetimes: A Century Cycle”, Kraay experimented with a form of writing that was once brand new to her — century form.
In century form, the author writes 100 short entries, listed numerically, flowing freely between one another. The list-like format follows the writer’s train of thought, allowing the author to explore different ideas in each entry that paint a larger picture when read in numerical order.
“Century form is like an essay in itself, but it’s also kind of like poetry,” Kraay said.
Kraay was introduced to the form through a virtual silent writing retreat. She wrote her first century, and almost immediately found herself “addicted” to the writing style.
“I became obsessed with this journey,” Kraay said. “It ended up being a way of exploring all these areas of my life that I think I needed to touch on to move on from.”
One century turned into several, and Kraay began sharing the work with others. After seeing the positive response, she decided to put them together into a compiled work, exploring different themes in each century of the book.
“I found the form simple but also accessible,” Kraay said. “One reason I wanted to bring [century form] to the university at this moment is it’s a pretty stressful time … and this form is incredibly healing.”
Jaina resonated with the themes and unconventionality of Kraay’s book and took on the role of editor and publisher.
“We’re both really interested in ancestry and the way pleasure and trauma moves through generations and affects people and the way we can sit with ourselves and our bodies in the present moment,” Jaina said.
The pair, who had collaborated previously, shared an interest in “refining words to find the best combination”, even if it took hours to write a single sentence, according to Jaina.
“We both love the beauty of language and getting really specific with the exact words that we’re using,” he added.
Another collaborator of Kraay, Boise State Professor and Theater Director Tiara Thompson, said that Kraay makes sure everyone they work with feels heard and valued in the creative process.
“Heidi leads with collaboration, curiosity, empathy and seeking to bridge connections between people,” Thompson said.
Thompson directed Kraay’s play titled “Wolf/Girl” in 2024. Some of Kraay’s other notable stage works include “See in the Dark” and “Take Me Away: A Trainwreck with Monsters”.
In the summer of 2025, Kraay went through a major life change. While riding her bike one day, she was hit by a truck.
She sustained injuries to her arm and shoulder, slowing down her ability and motivation to write.
“I’ve been in a phase the last few years of just pumping out work all the time,” Kraay said. “[After the accident] I was going through this intense slowing down, where waiting became this larger process. They were days of just sitting, meditation and really long walks and hikes, gathering little talismans and creating rituals.”
Being forced to slow down was serendipitous for Kraay, allowing them to take their time to reconnect with herself outside of writing.
“The truck hit me, but it was a gift, in a way, because it’s something I knew that I needed for a long time,” Kraay said.
For now, Kraay is taking the time to look for her next ideas. She referred to an idea from American performer and director Amanda Palmer about the creative process — collecting ideas or “dots”, connecting the dots, then sharing those connections with others.
“I’m in a big collecting-the-dots phase,” Kraay said.
For Kraay, that process requires patience, observation and an open mind as she waits for inspiration to take hold.
“I do a lot of daily writing and ritual practices that may seem to go nowhere, but they add up over time,” she explained. “After a while, it becomes clear that ‘this is [my next] thing’.”
Those interested in reading “12 Lifetimes: A Century Cycle” can purchase it online at Modern Mythographer Press. It can also be found in local retailers such as Rediscovered Books and Flying M Coffeehouse in Boise.
Getting the book on local bookstores’ shelves was important to Kraay and Jaina, who opted not to distribute the book through any major distributors. For them, connection is the most valuable thing.
“We really wanted to focus on how small and how personal we can go,” Kraay said. “We wanted to focus on one person at a time because if we could get 100 people to really love and hold this book, that would really matter.”
