Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson is the author of the critically-acclaimed book Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free, which came out in June of 2025 from Simon & Schuster. Her first biography is being hailed as a best book of 2025 by The New York Times, NPR, Time, Kirkus, and The Washington Post, among many others. Claire McCardell earned an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction longlist selection, an Amazon Editor’s pick for Best History, and rave reviews from Oprah Daily, The Atlantic, Elle, Forbes, Harper's Bazaar, and on All Things Considered and Morning Edition. The New York Times Book Review calls this book an exceptional biography and an essential read that “puts the American fashion icon Claire McCardell back in the pantheon.” Elizabeth is working on her second book—a true crime object biography about the famous Ruby Slippers from “The Wizard of Oz.” It’s forthcoming from Dutton.

Elizabeth’s writing career encompasses cultural criticism, narrative nonfiction, investigative journalism, short fiction, and memoir. She’s been widely published in places like The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper’s, The Washington Post Magazine, and The Southern Review, among others. Her nonfiction has earned recognition in The Best American Essays anthology and she’s a two-time recipient of the Independent Artist Award for fiction from The Maryland State Arts Council. She’s been a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow and in 2023, Elizabeth became the first literary artist to win Maryland’s prestigious Mary Sawyers Imboden Prize, given in recognition of artists who demonstrate excellence in mastery of craft, depth of artistic exploration, and unique vision. Elizabeth teaches graduate level writing, and she is the Editorial Director at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where she lives with her family and a very opinionated corgi named Buddy.