Mary Karr's three bestselling memoirs are credited with kick-starting a renaissance in the form—The Liars’ Club, Cherry, and Lit -- as well as The Art of Memoir, which was also a New York Times bestseller. Her Syracuse graduation speech, published as "Now Go Out There," lit up the Twittersphere. Her Americana song collaboration with country hunk Rodney Crowell, Kin, reached number one on the charts and was a Grammy finalist. Her five books of poetry include Tropic of Squalor (long-listed for the Pulitzer in 2018), Sinners Welcome, Viper Rum, The Devil's Tour, and Abacus. Her poetry secured her fellowships from the Guggenheim, the NEA, and the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College. Her book on her sister, Lecia, is in progress. Karr is the Peck Professor of Literature at Syracuse University and commutes there from New York City, where she is grandmother to a little girl and a pitbull.

Photo credit: Liz Banfield