Sue Monk Kidd is a writer, novelist and memoirist. She was born in Albany, Georgia and raised in the tiny town of Sylvester, Georgia, a place that deeply influenced the writing of her first novel The Secret Life of Bees.

Sue's first book, God's Joyful Surprise (Harper SanFrancisco, 1988), describes the beginnings of her spiritual search. Her second book, When the Heart Waits, (Harper SanFrancisco, 1990) reveals a deepening of Sue's voice and recounts her vivid spiritual transformation at mid life. Turning her explorations to feminist theology, she published The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, (Harper SanFrancisco, 1996), a memoir that had a groundbreaking effect within religious circles.

Sue's desire to write fiction returned in her forties, and she enrolled in a graduate writing course at Emory University, as well as studying at Sewanee, Bread Loaf and other writers' conferences. She wrote and published short stories in small literary journals for which she garnered several awards. Sue serves on the board of advisors for Poets & Writers, Inc.

Today Sue lives in Southwest Florida with her husband, Sandy, and their black lab, Lily.