She teaches creative writing at workshops and programs in Washington state and elsewhere, including Seattle University, the University of New Mexico and Richard Hugo House.

She is a descendant of Sephardi conversos with roots in Nyer, France,[1] and maintains a "relationship with Judaism".

A play based on her novel, Spirits of the Ordinary, was produced by The Miracle Theatre of Portland, Oregon.

She is the winner of several awards for her writing, including an Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship in 2007.

[5][6] https://faculty.ucmerced.edu/mmartin-rodriguez/index_files/vhAlcalaKathleen.htm Charles de Lint, reviewing The Flower in the Skull, declared that "Alcalá is fast becoming one of my favourite writers," praising her work for the "richness [of her] characterization and settings.