Courtney Angela Brkic is the author of The First Rule of Swimming (Little, Brown, and Company, 2013), Stillness: and Other Stories (FSG, 2003) and The Stone Fields (FSG, 2004). Her work has also appeared in Guernica, Zoetrope, The New York Times, The Washington Post Magazine, Harpers & Queen, the Utne Reader, National Geographic, and Slate.com among others. Brkic has been the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Whiting Writer’s Award. Stillness was named a Barnes and Noble Discover pick, a 2003 Chicago Tribune "Best Book" and a 2003 New York Times "Notable Book". The Stone Fields was shortlisted for a Freedom of Expression Award by the Index on Censorship. The First Rule of Swimming was a New York Times Editor’s Choice. She lives outside of Washington, DC, with her husband and children, and teaches in the MFA program at George Mason University.