Peter Orner

Chicago-born Peter Orner is the author of eight books, most recently the novel, The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter, named a best book of 2025 by the New Yorker and the Chicago Tribune, and the story collection, Maggie Brown & Others. He's been called “a master of the short story” by the New York Times. His collection of essays, Am I Alone Here? was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism, and his second non-fiction book, Still No Word from You, was a finalist for the Pen Award for the Art of the Essay. Peter’s work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, the Atlantic, Harper’s, Granta, and received four Pushcart Prizes. He teaches at Dartmouth College, and lives with his family in Norwich, where he’s a volunteer firefighter.