Lauren Kessler

Lauren Kessler is author of ten works of nonfiction, all of which combine lively narrative with deep research and in-the-trenches immersion. The creator of two graduate programs in creative nonfiction, she founded a writers’ group at a maximum-security prison. Her most recent book, Free: Two Years, Six Lives and the Long Journey Home, won the 2024 Oregon Book Award in General Nonfiction.