Robin Romm's memoir, The Mercy Papers, was named a Top Ten Nonfiction Book of the Year by Entertainment Weekly, a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times, and Top 100 Nonfiction Book by the San Francisco Chronicle. Her collection of stories, The Mother Garden, was a finalist for the PEN USA prize and the Northern California Independent Bookseller's Book of the Year Award.

Her stories have appeared in numerous national journals (Tin House, One Story, Threepenny Review) and anthologies. She lives in New Mexico with her boyfriend, the writer Don Waters, and their cattle dog, Mercy. She is on the faculty of the MFA program at New Mexico State University.