Cary Groner grew up in the Midwest, earned his BFA in directing from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, then worked as a journalist for more than twenty years, covering theatre, film, healthcare, science, and environmental issues. During this time he also studied Buddhist meditation and philosophy with the late Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche. In 2009, he received his MFA in fiction writing from the University of Arizona. His first novel, Exiles, was published in June 2011 by Spiegel & Grau /​ Random House, and placed fourth on the Chicago Tribune's list of the best books of that year.Cary's short stories have won numerous awards. His story "Elaborate Preparations for Departure" won the Glimmer Train fiction open and was published in the summer 2010 issue. "The Meat Line" won the Hackney Literary Award for a short story and was published in Mississippi Review in 2010. Another story, "Understanding the Sky," won the annual fiction award at the Southern California Review and was published there in the fall of 2010. His story "Voyeuse" won second place in the 2009 American Fiction awards and was also published in fall 2010. "Summerhaven" was named runner-up in the 2009 Faulkner/​​Wisdom competition. Another story, "Inheritance," was a finalist for the 2010 Danahy Award and was published in Tampa Review in the summer of 2011. "Flatwater" won second prize in the 2010 Hackney Award competition, was also a finalist for the Wabash Prize, and was published in Sycamore Review in summer 2011 as well.Cary and his wife live in the San Francisco bay area.