Barbara Kingsolver’s lifelong interest in human rights and the environment has taken her on writing assignments to some of the world’s most challenged and hopeful places, from an indigenous-crop preservation farm established by Vandana Shiva in India to Mexican village collectives that protect endangered forests in the Yucatán. Her thirteen published books include nonfiction, poetry, and seven works of fiction. Her novels The Bean Trees, The Poisonwood Bible, among others, have earned literary acclaim and a devoted readership in more than twenty languages. In 2000, she was awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 2010, she was awarded the Orange Prize for her most recent novel, The Lacuna.