Courtney was born in Rolla, Missouri, and grew up in Copley, Ohio. She studied creative writing at Oberlin College before moving to New York City, where she received an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University.
She is the author of three novels: The Special Power of Restoring Lost Things, Orion’s Daughters, and Spark. Her short stories and essays have appeared in The Literary Review, PANK, Wigleaf, Five Chapters, Juked, and Front Porch, among other venues, and have received several Pushcart nominations.
Courtney teaches fiction workshops with the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop and has trained as a birth doula. She lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side with her husband and two young sons.