Carol is the author of the novels Seven Moves and Aquamarine and Lucky in the Corner. She has won the Carl Sandburg, Society of Midland Authors, and Ferro-Grumley awards for fiction, and has been a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award three times.

Her short fiction has been anthologized, and published in various periodicals including VLS, Story and Tin House . Her stories, "Hammam" and "Elvis Has Left the Building" were chosen for inclusion in Best American Short Stories of 1994 and 1998 respectively. "Hammam" was read on NPR's "Selected Shorts" series.

Anshaw is a past fellow of the Illinois Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches in the MFA in Writing program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.