Vanessa Manko is the author of The Invention of Exile (forthcoming from the Penguin Press in August 2014). An excerpt of this, her first novel, was published in Granta winter 2012 issue. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Hunter College and her M.A. in dance studies from NYU’s Gallatin School. She has taught writing at NYU and SUNY Purchase and was the former dance editor of The Brooklyn Rail. Originally from Brookfield, Connecticut, she now lives in Brooklyn.