Darlene O’Dell is a writer, teacher, and founder of Freewrite Fridays who lives in Asheville, North Carolina. Her most recent book, The Story of the Philadelphia Eleven, was released by Seabury Books in 2014. She has also published I Followed Close behind Her (Spinsters Ink, 2003) and Sites of Southern Memory: The Autobiographies of Katharine Du Pre Lumpkin, Lillian Smith, and Pauli Murray (University Press of Virginia, 2001). Purchase her ebook The Red Hen Diner (a mystery for ages 8-11) on Amazon.

She earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from the College of William and Mary, her M.A. in English from Clemson University, and her B.A. in English from Presbyterian College. She founded and leads the writing workshop Freewrite Fridays and is currently a writer for the Family Narrative Project.