Wild (Strayed) - Author Bio

Author Bio
• Birth—September 17, 1968
• Where—Spangler, Pennsylvania, uSA
• Education—B.A., University of Minnesota; M.F.A,
   Syracuse University
• Awards—Pushcart Prize
• Currently—Portland, Oregan


Cheryl Strayed is a New York Times bestselling author, who lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two children. Her autobiographical debut novel, Torch, was published 2006. In 2012 she published another bestseller, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, the true account of her trek along the Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed also writes the online advice column "Dear Sugar."

Strayed was born in Pennsylvania and raised in Minnesota, where she graduated from McGregor High School in Aitkin County, a place upon which the fictional Coltrap County in Torch is based. She received her B.A. from the University of Minnesota and her M.F.A in fiction writing from Syracuse University, where she was mentored by writers George Saunders and Mary Gaitskill among others. She is married to filmmaker Brian Lindstrom.

Published works
Strayed's essays have been published in the Washington Post Magazine, New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Allure and other imprints. Her work has been selected twice for inclusion in The Best American Essays ("Heroin/e" in the 2000 edition, and "The Love of My Life" in the 2003 edition). Torch, a story based on Strayed's mother's death from cancer at age 45, was a finalist for the Great Lakes Book Award and was selected by The Oregonian as one of the top ten books of 2006 by writers living in the Pacific Northwest.

Her memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, which details her 1,100-mile hike up the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert to northernmost Oregon has since been optioned by actress Reese Witherspoon. Wild was also excerpted in Vogue.

On February 14, 2012, Strayed came forward as the formerly anonymous author of the "Dear Sugar" advice column at The Rumpus online literary magazine. Strayed took over the column from originator Steve Almond. On July 10, 2012 her new book Tiny Beautiful Things, a compilation of her best and new "Dear Sugar" columns, will be released by Vintage Books.

Awards
Strayed's essay "Munro County", about a letter from Alice Munro, was published in the Missouri Review and won a Pushcart Prize in 2010.

Wild was chosen in June, 2012, as the inaugural selection for Oprah's Book Club 2.0, a re-launch of the famous Oprah's Book Club which ended in 2011. Oprah's Book Club 2.0 uses online social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and e-readers, so that participants can cut and paste passages from books and communicate online. Oprah discussed Wild in her video announcement of the new Club (From Wikipedia.)