Carol Shields was an American-born Canadian short story writer, poet, playwright and novelist.

Shields is the author of several award-winning books. Her novel The Stone Diaries won the Governor General's Literary Award for English-language fiction in 1992 and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1993. It was also shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. In 1997, Larry's Party was shortlisted for the Giller Prize. Shields received her third nomination for the award when Unless was named a finalist in 2002. The novel was a contender for Canada Reads 2011, defended by Lorne Cardinal. Her biography Jane Austen won the Charles Taylor Prize (now known as the RBC Taylor Prize) in 2002. She is also the author of The Republic of Love and graphic novel Susanna Moodie, among others.