Dorothy Allison was born in Greenville, South Carolina, and makes her home in Northern California. Her first novel, Bastard Out of Carolina, was a finalist for the National Book Award and became an award-winning movie. Allison’s second novel, Cavedweller, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, won the Lambda Literary Award for Fiction and was a finalist for the Lillian Smith Prize. It was also adapted for the stage and screen. She is currently working on another novel, She Who. Allison will be in residence at Davidson College in 2009.