Julie Hilden was born in Teaneck, New Jersey in 1968. She graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in 1989 with degrees in Philosophy and English. She received her JD from Yale Law School in 1992. In 1995, she earned an MFA from Cornell University, where she studied with Alison Lurie. She now lives in Washington, D.C., where she works as a litigator practicing criminal defense and First Amendment law.