Tom Bissell was born in Escanaba, Michigan, in 1974. In 2006 he was awarded the Rome Prize by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and lived for a year in Rome. He is the author of Chasing the Sea, God Lives in St. Petersburg, and The Father of All Things, all available from Vintage. His new book, Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter, will be published in June by Pantheon. Currently, he lives in Portland, Oregon, and teaches at Portland State University. (updated 4/2010)

His AGNI story “A Bridge Under Water” was chosen for The Best American Short Stories 2011.