Sheri Reynolds is an author of contemporary Southern fiction.

She was born and raised in rural South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 and lives on Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

's eastern shore

Eastern Shore of Virginia

The Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010...

. She graduated from Conway High School

Conway High School

Conway High School is a public school located in Conway, South Carolina at 2301 Church Street. As of 2010-2011, the school's enrollment was 1,592. The school's principal is Mr. Steven Fitch...

 in 1985, Davidson College

Davidson College

Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...

 in 1989, and Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...

 in 1992.

She is an associate professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 and the Ruth and Perry Morgan Chair of Southern Literature

Southern literature

Southern literature is defined as American literature about the Southern United States or by writers from this region...

 at Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University is a state university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...

 in Norfolk, VA

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

. Reynolds teaches creative writing

Creative writing

Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...

 and literature classes. She won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council for Higher Education

Higher education

Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

 of Virginia in 2003, and in 2005, she received a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts in playwriting. She has also taught at Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...

, The College of William and Mary, and Davidson College

Davidson College

Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...

.

Her first play, Orabelle's Wheelbarrow, won the Women Playwrights' Initiative playwriting competition for 2005. Orabelle's Wheelbarrow can be read at Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts

• The Rapture of Canaan
  The Rapture of Canaan
  The Rapture of Canaan is a novel by Sheri Reynolds. The book was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in April 1997.Adolescent Ninah lives in a strict fundamentalist Christian community led by her grandfather Herman...
  
  , an Oprah's Book Club
  Oprah's Book Club
  Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the American talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new novel for viewers to read and discuss each month. The Club ended its 15-year run, along with...
  
   selection and New York Times bestseller (1997)
• A Gracious Plenty (1999)
• The Firefly Cloak (2006)
• The Sweet In-Between (2008)