Let's make this birthday one to remember.

43 years old (Born on July 10, 1981)

Happy Birthday, Karen Russell! May your day be as delightfully quirky and wonderfully imaginative as the swamps of Swamplandia!—minus the alligators, of course. Your Pulitzer-nominated debut novel continues to charm readers with its magical realism and unforgettable characters.

Congratulations on being a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient—officially certifying what we've suspected all along: you're brilliantly unique. Here's hoping your next year is filled with even more literary adventures, whimsical worlds, and perhaps fewer mosquito bites from fictional swamps. Keep dazzling us with your genius; after all, not everyone can make swamp life seem so enchantingly appealing!