Barbara Kingsolver's books of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction are widely translated and have won numerous literary awards, including the Women's Prize for Fiction, awarded to The Lacuna; Flight Behaviour was also shortlisted. She is the founder of the PEN/Bellwether Prize, and in 2000 she was awarded the National Humanities Medal, her country's highest honour for service through the arts. Prior to her writing career, she studied and worked as a biologist. She lives with her husband on a farm in southern Appalachia.