Alison McGhee is restless.

The creative writing professor from Minneapolis has traveled all over the world, has written novels and stories of all sorts and has even made the New York Times National bestsellers’ list. She’s still not done.

McGhee will give a workshop on Tuesday, Jan. 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Riverland Community College to the Austin branch of the American Association of University Women.

McGhee’s always wanted to do something artistic. When she was little, her dream job changed from ballerina to actress to writer as soon as she learned how to write.

“I wanted to be an artist,” McGhee said. “I wanted to be somebody who took life and translated it into something else.”

She’s done that, having written four adult novels, one young adult novel, three children’s novels and 10 or 11 picture books over the span of her career. She gained national attention with her sophomore novel “Shadow Baby,” about a school girl who befriends an old man as part of a school project. “Shadow Baby,” garnered a Pulitzer Prize nomination when it was released in 2000.

McGhee continued her successful streak, eventually appearing on the New York Times bestseller’s list in 2007, where her picture book “Someday” debuted at No. 1. She remembers being in a car with her parents on the way to dinner when her editor called her with the good news.

“She said ‘I want you to know that your book premiered at number one,’” McGhee said. “I couldn’t believe it. It was the dream of a lifetime.”

Aside from her literary success, McGhee is a professor of creative writing at Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis and St. Paul, where she has taught for the past 15 years. Before that, she taught Chinese at South High School in Minneapolis, as she’d majored in Chinese in college.

“When I was little I was always drawn to Asia, drawn to China,” said McGhee. “It’s a far cry from creative writing.”

Currently, McGhee is working on a variety of projects, including finishing draft of a picture book or two and a children’s novel. She hopes one day to write an original screenplay, to bring more variety into her writing.

“I guess I’m a restless person. I’m always looking for some new challenge, always looking to try to write that perfect book,” McGhee said. “I’m always searching for the best way to translate whatever kernel of an idea I have.”