Edward P. Jones was born and raised in Washington, DC. Winner of the Pen/Hemingway Award and recipient of the Lannan Foundation Grant and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, Jones was educated at Holy Cross College and the University of Virginia. He has been a professor of fiction writing at a range of universities, including Princeton. His first book, Lost in the City, was shortlisted for the National Book Award.

He lives in Arlington, Virginia.