Lauren Oliver Biography

She is a 2012 E.B. White Read-Aloud Award nominee for her middle-grade novel "Liesl & Po", as well as author of the fantasy middle-grade novel "The Spindlers". Panic, which was published in March 2014, has been optioned by Universal Pictures in a major deal. Academically, Lauren graduated from the University of Chicago, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She also has a degree from New York University’s MFA program. With Lexa Hillyer, she is co-founder of the boutique literary development company Paper Lantern Lit.

Growing up, Lauren was both an avid reader and writer, saying, “I come from a family of writers, and so have always (mistakenly) believed that spending hours in front of the computer every day, mulling over the difference between ‘chortling’ and ‘chuckling’ is normal. As a child, after finishing a book, I would continue to write a sequel for its characters, because I did not want to have to give them up".

As she continued in her writing, Lauren eventually made the switch to writing her own stories and characters, to some success. Yet, in addition to writing, Lauren also enjoyed taking ballet, drawing, painting, making collages, singing, acting, experimenting with cooking, and as she puts it, “(trying) to spend my time being as creative and useless as possible.” After finishing high school and moving on to the University of Chicago, Lauren reveals, “I continued to be as impractical as possible by majoring in philosophy and literature...inadvertently aided and abetted in my mission by my older sister, Lizzie, who pursued a Ph.D. in philosophy and cognitive science. This eventually led our parents to resign themselves to the fact that their children would never be lawyers, doctors, or even gainfully employed. Nevertheless, things appear to have worked out for the well-known author.

Publications:

• Delirium Trilogy
• Annabel (December 26, 2012)
• Delirium (February 3, 2011)
• Hana (February 28, 2011)
• Pandemonium (February 28, 2012)
• Raven (March 5, 2013) - Novella
• Requiem (March 5, 2013)
• Alex (November 25, 2014)
• Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel, and Raven (March 5, 2013)

Standalone Novels:

• Before I Fall (March 2, 2010)
• Panic (March 4, 2014)
• Vanishing Girls (March 10, 2015)

Novels for Adults:

• Rooms (September 23, 2014)

Novels for Young Readers:

• Liesl and Po (October 4, 2011)
• The Spindlers (October 2, 2012)
• Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head (September 29, 2015)