Francine Prose was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 1st, 1947. Francine started writing in 1973 at age 26. Her first book was Judiah the Pious. Since then, she has written many other books such as My New American Life, Touch, A Changed Man, and Bigfoot Dreams. Since 2007, she has been the president of the PEN American Center. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1968.