Karen Russell Biography

Karen Russell is an American novelist and short story writer celebrated for her vivid, fantastical storytelling that merges surrealism with psychological depth. A native of Miami, Florida, her debut novel, “Swamplandia!” (2011), a Pulitzer Prize finalist, explores a family of alligator wrestlers in the Everglades. She has published three story collections: “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” (2006), “Vampires in the Lemon Grove” (2013), and “Orange World” (2019), as well as a novella, “Sleep Donation” (2020). Her latest novel, “The Antidote” (2025), delves into memory and history in a speculative Dust Bowl setting. Russell’s work, often set in Florida, has appeared in The New Yorker and Granta. She has earned a MacArthur "Genius Grant," a Guggenheim Fellowship, and other honors. A graduate of Northwestern and Columbia, she teaches creative writing and lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two children.

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