He later earned a Juris Doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law, and an MFA from the Iowa Writer's Workshop.
Of Esther Stories, The New York Times wrote, "Orner doesn't just bring his characters to life, he gives them souls.
Orner served as editor of two non-fiction books, Underground America (2008) and Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives (2010), both published by McSweeney's / Voice of Witness.
Orner's newest collection of stories, Maggie Brown & Others, was released on July 2, 2019, and has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the likes of the New York Times,[10] Washington Post[11] and Chicago Tribune.
He has also worked as human rights observer in Chiapas, Mexico, a cab driver in Iowa City, and a sewer department worker for the city of Highland Park, Illinois, where he once worked side-by-side with Alex Gordon, a Chicago-based journalist and author of College: The Best Five Years of Your Life.