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Nora Shalaway Carpenter’s fiction has been named to NPR’s Best of the Year list, praised in the New York Times and People, and won the Green Earth Book Award, the Whippoorwill Award, and the Nautilus Book Award. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and teaches writing at the Highlight Foundation’s prestigious Whole Novel Workshop, where she adores mentoring emerging writers. A neurodivergent author with an invisible disability, she is a passionate advocate for the normalization of mental health struggles and the deconstruction of harmful stereotyping, particularly of rural people and places.
When not writing her own books, Shalaway Carpenter works as a voice actor and serves on the executive team of Kindling Words. Originally from rural West Virginia, she now roams the mountains of western North Carolina with her husband, three children, and the world’s most patient dog and cat. Learn more at noracarpenterwrites.com.
long bio / 148 words
Nora Shalaway Carpenter’s fiction has been named to NPR’s Best of the Year list, praised in the New York Times and People, and won the Green Earth Book Award, the Whippoorwill Award, and the Nautilus Book Award. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and teaches at the Highlight Foundation’s prestigious Whole Novel Workshop. A dynamic speaker with an invisible disability, she routinely presents at national conferences and universities.
Short Bio / 72 words
Nora Shalaway Carpenter’s fiction has been named to NPR’s Best of the Year list, praised in the New York Times and People, and won the Green Earth Book Award, the Whippoorwill Award, and the Nautilus Book Award. A dynamic speaker with an invisible disability, she routinely presents around the country.
mini Bio / 50 words
Nora Shalaway Carpenter’s fiction has been named to NPR’s Best of the Year list, praised in the New York Times, and won the Green Earth Book Award, the Whippoorwill Award, and the Nautilus Book Award. Her novel The Edge of Anything, which explores grief, mental health, and the transformative power of friendship, was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, Bank Street, and A Mighty Girl, and was a Library of Congress Discover Great Places Through Reading list selection. She is co-contributing editor of the groundbreaking YA anthology AB(solutely) NORMAL: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health Stereotypes, which People magazine said “will save lives.” A dynamic presenter, Nora regularly speaks about writing and mental health around the country.
mental health-focus bio / 121 words
Nora Shalaway Carpenter’s fiction has been named to NPR’s Best of the Year list, praised in the New York Times and People, and won the Green Earth Book Award, the Whippoorwill Award, and the Nautilus Book Award. She is the contributing editor of ONWARD: 16 Climate Fiction Short Stories to Inspire Hope (Charlesbridge, 2026). A native of rural West Virginia and the daughter of a wildlife biologist, her work explores the intersections of environmentalism and socioeconomics.
environmental-focused bio / 76 words
Nora Shalaway Carpenter’s fiction has been named to NPR’s Best of the Year list, praised in the New York Times and People, and won the Green Earth Book Award, the Whippoorwill Award for authentic rural fiction, and the Nautilus Book Award, among other honors. A Yeager Scholar, she holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and routinely presents at national conferences and universities. Before she wrote books, she served as associate editor of Wonderful West Virginia magazine. Since 2021, she’s been on faculty at the Highlight Foundation’s prestigious Whole Novel Workshop. Learn more at noracarpenterwrites.com.
academic-focused bio / 97 words
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photo by Chip Bryan
photo by Hayley Brooks
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Follow me for glimpses of life in all its grit and grace. On Instagram, Substack, and Facebook, I share reflections on creativity, parenting, work, and the quiet work of showing up as yourself. Sometimes it’s advice, sometimes it’s behind-the-scenes, and sometimes it’s just me being honest.
