“My students are often asking me, 'What do you think are the most important qualities for a writer?' And one thing I always tells them is that it's helpful to be willing to sit in a space of uncertainty. There are entire years, especially with novels, where you really don't know where the project is going.”

American fiction writer

Laura van den Berg is an American fiction writer, known for five works of fiction. Her first two collections of short stories were both shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, in 2010 and 2014. Her work has drawn recognition from major literary institutions. In 2021, she received the Strauss Livings Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters and a Guggenheim Fellowship.