Katherine Womeldorf Paterson is an American writer best known for children's novels, including Bridge to Terabithia. For four different books published between 1975 and 1980, she won two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. She is one of four people to win the two major international awards; for "lasting contribution to children's literature," she won the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing in 1998 and for her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense," she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2006, the biggest monetary prize in children's literature. For her body of work, she was awarded the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in 2007 and the Children's Literature Legacy Award from the American Library Association in 2013.

She was the second US National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, serving in 2010 and 2011. Katherine Paterson has authored more than 40 books, including 18 novels for children and young people. She resides in Vermont with her faithful dog, Pixie.

People often ask her questions like, “When did you first know that you wanted to become a writer?” To which she responds that she never wanted to be a writer as a child, but today she very much enjoys it. She originally wanted to be either a movie star or a missionary. After many years and different experiences, including teaching in a rural school in northern Virginia and spending time in Japan, she began writing in earnest in 1964 when the Presbyterian church requested her to write curriculum materials.

Her journey as a writer has been marked by both challenges and triumphs. Despite numerous rejections, she continued to write and eventually found success. She considers herself the most fortunate person in the world to have been given such work to do.