Who Is Barbara Kingsolver? First Author To Win Women’s Prize For Fiction Twice

American novelist Barbara Kingsolver won the renowned Women’s Prize for Fiction on Wednesday for Demon Copperhead, which narrates the Dickens-inspired story of a boy’s struggle against the odds in a corner of America scarred by opioid addiction. Kingsolver’s coming-of-age novel was announced as the winner of a 30,000-pound award at an event in London.

Who Is Barbara Kingsolver?

68-year-old Kingsolver is also the proud awardee of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for the novel that transplants Charles Dickens' David Copperfield to modern-day southwest Virginia, where the author resides.

This is the second award for the author. She won the women’s prize in 2010 for her novel The Lacuna. While accepting the honourable award, Kingsolver said, "Lightening strikes twice."

Barbara Kingsolver started her writing career in 1985 and has published several critically acclaimed and commercially successful novels. She has authored prominent novels such as The Bean Tress (1988) and Prodigal Summer (2000). Her writing includes social justice and environmentalism. She doesn’t just write about these issues; she also demonstrates a commitment to her values through her actions in real life.

She was named one of the most significant writers of the 20^th century by Writers Digest. She was also awarded the National Humanities Medal, the country’s highest honour for service through the arts. Kingsolver was also the awardee of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for her body of work, and she is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

She created the Bellwether Prize for Fiction, which is given to unpublished novels that deal with significant social issues. The award is also known as the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. This helped establish the careers of more than half a dozen new literary writers.

Kingsolver was born in 1955 and raised in rural Kentucky. She got degrees in biology from DePauw University and the University of Arizona. She worked as a freelance writer before becoming an author in 1985.

She is the mother of two daughters, Camille and Lily. Her spouse, Steven Hopp, teaches environmental studies. Her family has been living on a farm in southern Appalachia.

Suggested Reading: Sarah Joseph Wins SheThePeople Women Writer’s Prize 2021

Image Credit: Faber & Faber