The Authors

Barbara Kingsolver’s fourteen books of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction include the novels The Bean Trees, The Poisonwood Bible, and The Lacuna, winner of The Orange Prize for Fiction. Translated into more than twenty languages, her work has won a devoted worldwide readership and many awards, including the National Humanities Medal. Her books have been incorporated into the core English literature curriculum of colleges throughout the country.

As a grower of food, she traces her roots back to the family garden where she was given her own plot on which to grow one vegetable of her choice, starting at age 6. (She chose squash.) She cultivated the soil of many cities, on several continents, before settling once and for all on the Virginia farm where she now lives with her husband. 

Steven Hopp received his PhD from Indiana University, with a background in the Life Sciences. He has published papers in bioacoustics, ornithology, animal behavior and more recently in sustainable agriculture. He is the founder and director of the Meadowview (Va.) Farmers Guild and teaches environmental sciences at Emory & Henry College.

Camille Kingsolver studied biology at Duke University before pursuing a graduate degree and career in mental health counseling. She now lives with her husband Reid Snow and their son Owen in Washington County, Va., a few minutes away from her parents’ farm.

Lily Hopp Kingsolver, was too young to sign a publishing contract when Animal, Vegetable, Miracle debuted in 2007, but was always an integral part of her family’s local food efforts and story. She has joined AVM’s trio of authors in writing new material for the 10th anniversary edition, reflecting on how her land-based upbringing influenced her decisions to pursue a science degree at the University of Virginia, field studies in Panama, and an eventual career as an environmental scientist.