Mollie Barnes

Mollie Barnes is an American author and educator whose work spans fiction, nonfiction, and community-based storytelling. She is known for writing that foregrounds place, family history, and Southern cultural identity. Barnes is also active in literary education and outreach, using storytelling as a tool for connection, reflection, and regional preservation. Her first book, Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838–1902(2026), investigates the ways women documented their and each other’s lives through diaries and biographies.