Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a novelist, short story writer, and journalist.  Her works of fiction include The Dark Path to the River and No Marble Angels.  She has also published fiction, poetry, and essays in anthologies and literary magazines.  A former reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, Ms. Leedom-Ackerman has won awards for her nonfiction and published articles in numerous magazines and periodicals.  An emerita member of the board of directors of Human Rights Watch, Ms. Leedom-Ackerman has also served as chair of its Asia Advisory Committee. She is a Vice President of International PEN and was the International Secretary of International PEN and former chair of International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee and past president of PEN Center USA. She currently serves on the board of directors of PEN American Center, The PEN/Faulkner Foundation and Poets and writers. She also serves on the boards of directors of the International Crisis Group and the International Center for Journalists and is on the Chairman’s Advisory Council of the United States Institute of Peace.  She is a trustee of Johns Hopkins University and a trustee emerita of Brown University. 

Characters in No Marble Angels struggle to close distances between each other, distances of race, sex, age."A valuable philosophical or political acquisition as well as a literary one . should be sought out and read."-Carolyn See, Los Angeles Times"The stories remind me of both I.B. Singer and Flannery O'Conner-compelling."-John A. Williams, The Man Who Cried I Am"Readers casually picking up . No Marble Angels might think they have stumbled into Anne Tyler's world . gems of clean, direct narrative."-Baltimore Sun"With wonderfully wry humor, Leedom-Ackerman depicts the kind of good will that ends up causing trouble for others . a refined sense of craft is evident in all the stories."-Library Journal

Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is an American novelist, short story writer and journalist whose fiction includes the regional bestseller The Dark Path to the River and the short story collection No Marble Angels.

Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a novelist, short story writer, and journalist whose works of fiction include The Dark Path to the River and No Marble Angels.. Joanne is Vice President of PEN International and former International Secretary of PEN International and former Chair of its Writers in Prison Committee. She serves on boards of PEN American Center, PEN Faulkner Foundation and Poets and Writers. She also serves on the boards of the International Crisis Group, Johns Hopkins University and Refugees International and is an emeritus board member of Human Rights Watch and Brown University . A former reporter for The Christian Science Monitor,  Joanne has taught writing at New York University, City University of New York, Occidental College and in the Writers’ Program at the University of California at Los Angeles extension.  She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Joanne lives in Washington, DC.