Biography;

Writer; university professor.  Born– May 2, 1948, Fairhope.  Parents–John Edward and Adeline LeClaire Donaldson Foster.  Married–David Wilder, 1990.  Education–B.A., 1968, Vanderbilt University; M.F.A. (Visual Art), UCLA, 1980; M.F.A. (Creative Writing), Iowa Writers’ Workshop, 1986; Ph.D., Florida State, 1993. Taught at Goddard College (Vermont), 1993-94; at the University of Iowa, 1994-2009. Published fiction and essays in many journals; lectured and led workshops at universities nationally and internationally.  Member Modern Language Association; Associated Writing Programs.  Received numerous awards for her writing and scholarship, including the Lake Effect Fiction Award in 1990; the Florida Arts Council Award; Dean’s Scholar Award at the University of Iowa in 2003; the Carl Klaus Teaching Award at Iowa, 2013, and others.  Awarded emeritus status on her retirement at Iowa in 2009.

Source;

University of Iowa website; Encyclopedia of Alabama

Publications;

All the Lost Girls:  Confessions of a Southern Daughter.  University of Alabama Press, 2000.

Girl from Soldier Creek.  River City Publishing, 2010.

Just beneath My Skin.  University of Georgia Press, 2004.

Editor;

Minding the Body:  Women Writers on Body and Soul.  New York:  Anchor/Doubleday, 1994.

Sister to Sister.  New York:  Anchor/Doubleday, 1996.

Joint Editor;

The Healing Circle: Narratives of Recovery.  Dutton, 1998.

Understanding the Essay.  Broadview Books, 2012.