Val Brelinski is an author and educator whose writing explores themes of faith, family, and identity. Born and raised in Nampa, Idaho, she grew up in a devout evangelical Christian household, an experience that often informs her work. Her fiction has appeared in prominent literary journals such as VQR, The Rumpus, Fiction, Confrontation, and Green Mountains Review. Brelinski has been recognized with awards from The San Francisco Chronicle, The Charlottesville Weekly, and The Boise Weekly, and was a finalist for the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award.
A graduate of the University of Virginia's MFA program, Brelinski further honed her craft as a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University from 2003 to 2005, where she later served as a Jones Lecturer in fiction writing. Her prose reflects a nuanced understanding of human relationships and the complexities of belief systems. Currently residing in Northern California, she teaches creative writing through Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program, sharing her expertise with aspiring writers.