Joan Didion (1934– ) is an acclaimed novelist, playwright, and journalist. Born in Sacramento, Didion studied at the University of California at Berkeley, and later worked as an editor at Vogue magazine after winning a contest for young writers. Her first novel, Run River, was published in 1963.

Didion is known for her spare and precise language, and for her exploration of the desolate cultural landscape of the contemporary United States. She has been called "the finest woman prose stylist writing in English today." In her nonfiction works, including magazine articles and essays, Didion writes in the first person, blending her own experiences with factual information to evoke a personal vision of her subject. Her essay collections Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1968) and The White Album (1979), which takes its name from a 1968 Beatles album with a white jacket, contain essays about life in California in the 1960s. Her other novels include A Book of Common Prayer (1977) and The Last Thing He Wanted (1996), both of which comment on American cultural and political attitudes.