Anthony Marra received a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California and an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Narrative Magazine, and MAKE Magazine. His short story Chechnya won a 2010 Pushcart Prize and the 2010 Narrative Prize. His debut novel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, was published in 2013 and received the inaugural John Leonard Prize. He also received 2018 Simpson Family Literary Prize.