Beth Kander is a USA Today best-selling novelist with tangled roots in the Midwest and Deep South. Described as a “genre-defying author and playwright” (Oxford American), her work has been featured in Oprah Daily, Writer’s Digest, Slackjaw, Frazzled, and other outlets. She earned an MSW from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mississippi University for Women, where she now serves as visiting faculty. She currently calls Chicago home, and is lucky to live there with her very favorite characters: her heroic husband, their two hilarious kids, and a giant rescue dog named Oz. Representation: Allison Hellegers, Stimola Literary Studio (books), Susan Gurman, Gurman Agency (plays).

SELECTED HONORS & AWARDS: Dramatists Guild Foundation National Fellow (2024-2025); Henry Award for Best New Play or Musical (2023-2024); NJPP Finalist (2023); Hey Alma! Film Pitch Winner (2022); T. Jefferson Carey Memorial Playwriting Award (2022); Henry Award for Best New Play or Musical (2019-2020); PitchWars (2019); Indie Bronze (2019); Headwaters New Play Award (2018); Equity Library Theatre Showcase (2017); Ashland New Plays Festival (2015, 2016); Eudora Welty Award (2008, 2010, 2012); Getchell New Play Award (2012); Mississippi Arts Commission Fellow (2010-2011).