Nationality 1: American

Birthdate: 1958

Jill McCorkle was born July 7, 1958, in Lumberton, North Carolina, to John Wesley Jr. and Melba Ann (Collins) McCorkle. She studied creative writing with Max Steele and Lee Smith at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1980, the year she graduated, McCorkle won the Jesse Rehder Prize, the university's prestigious writing award. The following year she received a master's degree in writing from Hollins College.

McCorkle submitted her first novel, The Cheer Leader, to Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a new publisher founded by one of her former professors. Energized by her first sale, she quickly wrote and submitted her second novel, July 7th. The first book had not yet been released, so Algonquin decided to release the novels simultaneously in 1984, a daring move that garnered McCorkle a lot of critical attention for a first-time novelist. McCorkle's career never slowed down after...