Knopf, $27.95 (448p) ISBN 978-0-525-65807-8. Name a genre or subject and it’s likely that a notable book in that vein saw print this year. A Conversation with Vanessa Veselka. Vanessa Veselka is the author of the novel Zazen, which won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” —Karl Marx. She has been, at various times, a teenage runaway, a sex-worker, a union organizer, a student of paleontology, an expatriate, an independent record label owner, a train-hopper, a waitress, and a mother. BOOKS. Vanessa Veselka is the author of the novels The Great Offshore Grounds ... an independent record label owner, a train hopper, a waitress, and a mother. She has two children with Van, named Josh Veselka and Vanessa Veselka who are two grownups with leading jobs now. Vanessa Veselka is the author of the novel Zazen, which won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize.Her short stories have appeared in Tin House and ZYZZYVA, and her nonfiction in GQ, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, The Atavist, and was included in Best American Essays and the anthology Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism.She has been, at various times, a teenage … VANESSA VESELKA is the author of the novel Zazen, which won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. Photograph by Alyssa Loh I sat down with Vanessa Veselka in a small, yet airy, café in New York’s West Village. Her short stories have appeared in Tin House and ZYZZYVA, and her nonfiction in GQ, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, The Atavist. Vanessa Veselka. Latest News. She has been, at various times, a Zazen (Red Lemonade, 2010) is her first novel. Her short stories have appeared in Tin House and ZYZZYVA, and her nonfiction in GQ, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, The Atavist, and was included in Best American Essays and the anthology Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism. Vanessa Veselka’s book jacket bio reads like the plotline for some kind of modern-day picaresque. Zazen is her first novel. VANESSA VESELKA is the author of the novel Zazen, which won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. Producers: Sonya Lea & Dylan Bandy Content editor: Dylan Bandy Sound editor: Nora Knight Illustration & Logo: Amy Mizrahi Vanessa Veselka is the author of the novel Zazen, which won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, and The Great Offshore Grounds. This, it would seem, is the question animating “The Great Offshore Grounds,” the second novel by Vanessa Veselka. Vanessa Veselka has been, at various times, a teenage runaway, a sex-worker, a union organizer, a student of paleontology, an expatriate, an independent record label owner, a train-hopper, a waitress, and a mother. Now, without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to present the exclusive cover reveal of The Great Offshore Grounds by Vanessa Veselka! Her work has appeared in Tin House, the Atlantic, Bust, Bitch, and other publications.And according to her bio, Veselka, who lives in Portland, Ore., has been at various times a teenage runaway, an expatriate, a union organizer, and a student of paleontology. Vanessa Veselka. She will be in conversation with Molly Crabapple, an artist and writer whose inspirations include Diego Rivera and Goya’s The Disasters of War. For example, after Livy and Cheyenne’s inaugural journey to find their elusive second mother in a Zen monastery culminates in a dead-end, Livy ditches Cheyenne in Boston, and their narrative threads permanently split. Vanessa Veselka (Portland, OR) has been, at various times, a teenage runaway, a sex-worker, a union organizer, a student of paleontology, an expatriate, an independent record label owner, a train-hopper, a waitress and a mother. She lives in Portland, Oregon. She lives in Portland, OR. Vanessa Veselka, author of “The Great Offshore Grounds.” Photo: Marne Lucas. The 10 Books We Loved Best in 2020. It’s been a great year for books and a weird year for reading. Tweet. Vanessa Veselka is a writer and musician living in Portland, Oregon. VANESSA VESELKA is the author of the novel Zazen, which won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize.Her short stories have appeared in Tin House and ZYZZYVA, and her nonfiction in GQ, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, The Atavist, and was included in Best American Essays and the anthology Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism.She has been, at various times, a teenage runaway, a sex … Vanessa Veselka (Portland, OR) has been, at various times, a teenage runaway, a sex-worker, a union organizer, a student of paleontology, an expatriate, an independent record label owner, a train-hopper, a waitress and a mother. For the four family members at the center of Vanessa Veselka’s superb new novel: messy, solipsistic, self-indulgent, painful, deep. Her short stories have appeared in Tin House and ZYZZYVA , and her nonfiction in GQ , The Atlantic , Smithsonian , The Atavist , and was included in Best American Essays and the anthology Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism . Vanessa Veselka's second novel, "The Great Offshore Grounds," sets sisters off on a wild-goose chase that tears them apart and puts them back together ... Like their mother … Vanessa Veselka, then 15, had run away from her New York City home in 1985. Her short stories have appeared in Tin House and ZYZZYVA, and her nonfiction in GQ, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, The Atavist, and was included in Best American Essays and the anthology Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural… One of the first books released by Red Lemonade, the visionary new press brought to life by ex-Soft Skull patriarch Richard Nash, Zazen by Vanessa Veselka is a powerful, political, sometimes humorous, often frightening portrait of a parallel world that lurks in the near future in all of its dystopian glory. Vanessa Veselka is the author of the novel Zazen, which won the 2012 PEN/Bingham prize for fiction. Vanessa Veselka is the author of the novel Zazen, which won the 2012 PEN/Bingham prize for fiction. In season one, we interview Pacific-Northwest authors Nicole Hardy, Claire Dederer, Elissa Washuta, Vanessa Veselka, Karen Karbo, Suzanne Morrison, and each other about our work and the state of the patriarchy. The same thing happened with her marriage with Tom Ellerbee which lasted fro 30 June 1973 to 31 July 1975. It’s not hard to figure out. Her work has appeared in Arthur, Bust, Bitch, Maximum Rock ’n’ Roll, and elsewhere. Her work has appeared in Arthur, Bust, Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll, Tin House, and elsewhere. By Uzoamaka Maduka. Where did things get trickier, then? “She has been, at various times, a teenage runaway, a sex worker, a union organizer, an independent record label owner, a train hopper, a waitress, and a mother.” Her nonfiction is found in GQ, The Atlantic, The American Reader, Salon, and is included in the 2013 Best American Essays. I started reading Vanessa Veselka's essay "Highway of Lost Girls" about Veselka’s and many other girls’ horrific hitchhiking experiences in the Eighties, first published in GQ as "The Truck Stop Killer" and now anthologized in this year's Best American Essays, this morning after publishing a piece here for The List and the Story about my mother’s hitchhiking days in the Seventies. After her divorce with Tom, Linda ended up marrying Van Kenneth Veselka on 7 March 1968. Vanessa Veselka. The deeply moving and nuanced mother narrative is a rewarding journey in itself. Vanessa Veselka is the author of the novel, Zazen, which was a finalist for the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and won the 2012 PEN/Robert W. Bingham prize for fiction.Her short stories appear in Tin House, YETI, and Zyzzyva. VANESSA VESELKA is the author of the novel, Zazen, which won the PEN/Robert Bingham prize for fiction. Kirstin, the mother, is a practicing witch who raised her two daughters to believe they were heroes in myths of their own making. Take a peek and read the synopsis below. It’s so beautiful! Vanessa Veselka is the author of ... a train hopper, a waitress, and a mother. More By and About This Author. Vanessa Veselka’s new novel, "The Great Offshore Grounds," tells the story of sisters Livy and Cheyenne as they set out to claim an unusual inheritance from their estranged father. Vanessa Veselka looks to the future (All images MPR photos/Euan Kerr). … VANESSA VESELKA is the author of the novel Zazen, which won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize.Her short stories have appeared in Tin House and ZYZZYVA, and her nonfiction in GQ, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, The Atavist, and was included in Best American Essays and the anthology Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism.She has been, at various times, a teenage runaway, a sex …