Lisa Wingate

B.A. ’82 - English

OSU Department of English 1982 graduate Lisa Wingate is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller “Before We Were Yours,” which remained on the bestseller list for over two years and has sold more than 3.5 million copies. She has penned 32 novels and co-authored one nonfiction book, “Before and After,” bringing forth the heart-wrenching real-life stories that inspired “Before We Were Yours.” Her award-winning works have been selected for state and community One Book reads across the country, have been published in over 40 languages, and have appeared on bestseller lists worldwide. Booklist summed up her work by saying, “Lisa Wingate is, quite simply, a master storyteller.”

Lisa was inspired to become a writer by a first-grade teacher who said she expected to see Lisa’s name in a magazine one day. Lisa honed her literary love at Oklahoma State University, where she spent many an hour in the library keeping company with books, or sitting on the steps of Morrill Hall writing the unapproved biographies of strangers passing by.

Lisa married into a big family of Southern tall-tale enthusiasts who never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Lisa lives with her husband in north Texas, where she is part of the Wingate clan of storytellers.