Sigrid Nunez is the daughter of a Chinese-Panamanian father and a German mother. She was born and raised in New York City. She received her BA from Barnard College and her MFA from Columbia University. She has taught at Amherst College, Smith College, Columbia University and the New School, and has been a visiting writer at Baruch College, Washington University, and the University of California, Irvine. She has also been on the faculty of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and of several other writers' conferences across the United States. She lives in New York City.