About

Lynne Kaufman is the author of five novels and more than two dozen plays produced nationally. Her latest novel, The Oxford Affair, is a charming mystery set in Oxford, where an elite summer program becomes the backdrop for murder, academic intrigue, and unexpected romance. The novel draws on Kaufman’s experience directing the Oxford/Berkeley summer school for twenty-five years and is currently under consideration for film adaptation.

Her previous novel, Divine Madness, is written as a diary by critic Elizabeth Hardwick and explores Hardwick’s tumultuous relationship with poet Robert Lowell, tracing a betrayal that unfolded in both love and literature.

Kaufman’s plays have been produced at theatres including TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, The Magic Theatre in San Francisco, Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota, and the Abingdon Theatre in New York City. Her recent play, Who Killed Sylvia Plath?, ran for three months at The Marsh Theatre in San Francisco and Berkeley and won the MarshStream International Solo Festival.

Her honors include the NEA/Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, TheatreWorks’ Best New Play in California, and the San Francisco Critics Circle Award for Best New Play.

Many of Kaufman’s works feature historical figures at moments of personal crisis. Rather than strict biography, her writing uses these characters to explore deeper questions about love, ambition, and the choices that shape a life.

In addition to The Oxford Affair and Divine Madness, Kaufman is the author of Slow Hands, Wild Women’s Weekend, and Taking Flight. Her short stories have appeared in McCall’s, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and Good Housekeeping. She lives in California and teaches writing at the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco and at OLLI at San Francisco State University.