Patricia "Pat" Christine Hodgell (b. March 16, 1951, in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American fantasy writer, artist and professor. Dr. Hodgell holds a master's in English literature and a doctorate in 19th-century English literature, both of which were earned from the University of Minnesota. She completed her Ph.D and subsequent dissertation on Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe between the publication of her first two fantasy novels, God Stalk and Dark of the Moon. She is a graduate of the Clarion and the Milford Writers' Workshops. Hodgell has produced an audio-cassette-based course on science fiction and fantasy for the University of Minnesota. She taught for many years in the English Department at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, but retired in 2006 to pursue a full-time writing career.