University of St. Thomas

Cheryl Strayed is the author of three books: the New York Times bestseller and Oprah Book Club 2.0 pick, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, a memoir (Knopf); Tiny Beautiful Things, a selection of her "Dear Sugar" columns from TheRumpus.net (just released by Vintage); and Torch, a novel (Houghton Mifflin). In addition, Wild has also been optioned for film by Reese Witherspoon's production company, Pacific Standard. Strayed's debut novel, Torch, was a finalist for the Great Lakes Book Award and was selected by The Oregonian as one of the top ten books of the year by writers from the Pacific Northwest. Strayed has written the "Dear Sugar" column on TheRumpus.net since March 2010.

Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Magazine, Vogue, Allure, Self, The Missouri Review, Brain, Child, Creative Nonfiction, Water~Stone Review, The Sun, and elsewhere. The winner of a Pushcart Prize as well as fellowships to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference and the Sewanee Writers' Conference, her essays and stories have been published in The Best American Essays, The Best New American Voices, and other anthologies. She holds an MFA in fiction writing from Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota. She's a founding member of VIDA: Women In Literary Arts, and serves on their board of directors. Raised in Minnesota, Strayed now lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, the filmmaker Brian Lindstrom, and their two children. 

As the ACTC (Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities) visiting writer to St. Thomas during this week, Strayed will meet with students in creative writing classes and other English classes. Her visit to St. Thomas and her public lecture are sponsored by the ACTC Visiting Writers Series.