Birth Dates of Notable Kentuckians: April 8, 1955 – Barbara Kingsolver



Photo by Annie Griffiths, from www.kingsolver.com



From The Kentucky Encyclopedia -
Barbara Kingsolver, fiction writer and poet, was born April 8, 1955, to Wendell R. and Virginia Lee (Henry) Kingsolver in Annapolis, Maryland. The family moved to Carlisle, Kentucky, when she was two years old. She attended Nicholas County High School and graduated magna cum laude in 1977 from Depauw University, in Greencastle, Indiana, with degrees in biology and English. In 1981 she received a master's degree from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. She has lived in Europe in Athens (1976) and Paris (1976-77), and since 1977 has made her home in Tucson, Arizona.

Her writings include technical articles and poetry and have been published in such periodicals as Mademoiselle, Progressive, New York Times, Redbook, Virginia Quarterly Review, and New Mexico Humanities Review. Her first novel, The Bean Trees (1988), was highly acclaimed. She wrote Homeland and Other Stories, published in 1989, and the nonfiction Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983 (1989). The Bean Trees is the story of a young Kentucky woman, Taylor Greer, who moves west to Tucson and acquires an unusual family that includes an orphaned baby girl she names Turtle, a Guatemalan refugee couple, a single mother, and several elderly neighbors. She becomes involved in the sanctuary movement for illegal aliens. A reviewer for the New York Times (April 10, 1988) called it "a remarkable, enjoyable book, one that contains more good writing than most successful careers." The novel won an American Library Association Award and was selected by the New York Times as one of "the notable books of 1988." In 1989 she received a citation of accomplishment from the United Nations National Council of Women of the United States. In 1985 Kingsolver married Joseph Hoffmann, a chemist. They are the parents of Camille. WADE HALL, Entry Author Selected Sources from UK Libraries: Wagner-Martin, L. (2004). Barbara Kingsolver (Great writers (Philadelphia, Pa.)). Philadelphia: Chelsea House. Special Collections Research Center - Room 019   PS3561.I496 Z95 2004 Kingsolver, B., Hopp, S., & Kingsolver, Camille. (2007). Animal, vegetable, miracle : A year of food life (1st ed.). New York: HarperCollins. Young Library   Books - 5th Floor   S521.5.A67 K56 2007 Snodgrass, M. (2004). Barbara Kingsolver : A literary companion (McFarland literary companion series ; 2). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. Young Library   Books - 5th Floor   PS3561.I496 Z88 2004