Bonnie Jo Campbell is a celebrated American novelist and short story writer born on September 14, 1962, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her writing is highly regarded, earning her a spot as a finalist for the prestigious National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Campbell's storytelling prowess extends to her novels, such as Once Upon a River, a National Bestseller, and Q Road, as well as her compelling short fiction collections, including American Salvage, which garnered her finalist positions for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Her collection Women and Other Animals won the AWP Prize for Short Fiction, and her work Mothers, Tell Your Daughters further cements her reputation as a master of the short story form. In addition to her literary achievements, Campbell has been honored as a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow, received the Eudora Welty Prize, and has been awarded a Pushcart Prize for her exceptional writing.

Campbell's latest work, The Waters, published by W.W. Norton, is a testament to her 'ruthless and precise eye for the details of the physical world' as praised by the New York Times Book Review. The novel is an elegant exploration of the resilience of nature against the backdrop of rural life.

Apart from her writing career, Campbell is a martial arts enthusiast, studying kobudo, the art of Okinawan weapons. She resides just outside her hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan with her husband and their two donkeys, Jack and Don Quixote. Her story American Salvage has been recognized as a top 10 rural noir novel of all time by The Guardian.