“Literature duplicates the experience of living in a way that nothing else can, drawing you so fully into another life that you temporarily forget you have one of your own. That is why you read it, and might even sit up in bed till early dawn, throwing your whole tomorrow out of whack, simply to find out what happens to some people who, you know perfectly well, are made up.”

American novelist, essayist, and poet

Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist, and poet. She is known for fiction and nonfiction that examine how people live within their communities and environments, with attention to social justice and biodiversity. Her best-known books include The Poisonwood Bible, about a missionary family in the Congo, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a nonfiction account of her family’s effort to eat locally. In 2023, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Demon Copperhead.