Karen Cushman (born October 4, 1941)[1] is an American writer of historical fiction.

Cushman's 1995 novel The Midwife's Apprentice won the Newbery Medal for children's literature, and her 1994 novel Catherine, Called Birdy won a Newbery Honor.

[2] She has a bachelor of arts degree in Greek and English from Stanford University and master's degrees in human behavior and museum studies.

[3] For eleven years, she was adjunct professor in the Museum Studies Department at John F. Kennedy University before resigning in 1996 to write full-time.

[5] The Ballad of Lucy Whipple was made into a TV film, broadcast in 2001.