Nicole Krauss is an American novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her novels The History of Love and Great House, both of which were finalists for the National Book Award. Krauss was born in Manhattan and raised in the suburbs of New York City. She attended Stanford University and received her MFA from the University of California, Irvine. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, and The New York Times. She has also been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Berlin Prize, the Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. Krauss is a passionate advocate for the power of literature to shape our lives and our world.