Vida was born in San Francisco, California, where she still lives today. Her mother was from Sweden, and she inherited the name Vendela from her maternal grandmother. Her father came to the United States. from Hungary and grew up near where Vida now lives.
Columbia University; Middlebury College. Columbia University School of the Arts.
She is the author of five books, a writing teacher, and an editor of The Believer magazine. She left California to get her bachelor"s degree at Middlebury College and later a master"s at Columbia University. After graduating, she interned at the Paris Review, and she adapted her master"s thesis into her first book, Girls on the Verge.
Vida collaborated on the screenplay for the 2009 film Away We Go, directed by Sam Mendes and co-starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph.
