--- description: Find out why Lauren Groff is one of the 100 most influential people of 2024. title: Lauren Groff: The 100 Most Influential People of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta77f3b9441dbcf1e/698a55bb929fadff99bfc670/time-100-2024-lauren-groff-social.jpg?branch=production --- Apr 17, 2024 # Lauren Groff by Ann Patchett  Lauren Groff, a three-time National Book Award finalist, in Gainesville, Fla., Sept. 28, 2023\. Groff's most recent book is "The Vaster Wilds," about a young woman who escapes from Jamestown, Va., in the 17th century. (Zack Wittman/The New York Times) Lauren Groff, a three-time National Book Award finalist, in Gainesville, Fla., Sept. 28, 2023\. Groff's most recent book is "The Vaster Wilds," about a young woman who escapes from Jamestown, Va., in the 17th century. (Zack Wittman/The New York Times)Zack Wittman—The New York Times/Redux Her novels would have been enough. _The Vaster Wilds, Matrix, Fates and Furies_—flights of imagination and dives into history that keep readers turning pages late into the night. Her collection _Florida_ (my personal favorite) won the Story Prize. But [Lauren Groff](https://time.com/6093678/nun-stories-matrix-lauren-groff/ "undefined") is more than a great writer, she’s also a great citizen, channeling her belief that everyone should be free to read the books they choose into The Lynx, her new bookstore in Gainesville, Fla. When I heard the news, I wanted to stop her. I wanted to praise her. I wanted to tell her there will be days that being both a writer and a bookstore owner will feel like one job too many. Just ask Louise Erdrich, Emma Straub, Judy Blume, Jeff Kinney. Ask me. But the joy of putting the right book into a customer’s hands will make up for everything. Once again, Lauren Groff is doing spectacular work. _Patchett is a best-selling author_ Lauren Groff Is on the 2024 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964750/lauren-groff-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964750/lauren-groff-2/"},"headline":"Lauren Groff","datePublished":"2024-04-17T11:11:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:29:42.055Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964750/lauren-groff-2/","keywords":["TIME100","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","2024TIME100","T100Artists2024"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta77f3b9441dbcf1e/698a55bb929fadff99bfc670/time-100-2024-lauren-groff-social.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta77f3b9441dbcf1e/698a55bb929fadff99bfc670/time-100-2024-lauren-groff-social.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964750/lauren-groff-2/","name":"Lauren Groff"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See Everyone on the TIME100 2024 list","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/73p9kgIN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-04-17T11:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/73p9kgIN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964750/lauren-groff-2/","duration":"PT1M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964750/lauren-groff-2/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```