Author David Vann
© Copyright 2005-12 David Vann
David Vann was born in the Aleutian Islands and spent his childhood in Ketchikan, Alaska.
For 12 years, no agent would send out his first book, Legend of a Suicide, so he went to sea
and became a captain and boat builder. Legend of a Suicide has now won 10 prizes, including
the Prix Medicis Etranger in France for best foreign novel, the Premi Llibreter in Spain for
best foreign novel, the Grace Paley Prize, a California Book Award, and the L’Express
readers’ prize (France). Being translated into 18 languages, Legend of a Suicide is an
international bestseller and has also been on 40 Best Books of the Year lists in 11 countries,
been selected by the New Yorker Book Club and the Times Book Club, read in full on North
German radio, and will be made into a film by Chris Meloni. David has also been listed for
the Sunday Times Short Story Award, the Story Prize, and others. His novel Caribou Island is
an international bestseller being translated into 18 languages, on 25 Best Books of the Year
lists in 9 countries, shortlisted for the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, and will be made
into a film by Bill Guttentag. It was read on the BBC for two weeks, selected by the
Samlerens Bogklub in Denmark, and shortlisted for the Prix du Roman Fnac and Prix Lire &
Virgin in France and also won several local prizes in France. His new novel, Dirt, has just
been published by HarperCollins April 24, 2012. He is the author of the bestselling memoir A
Mile Down: The True Story of a Disastrous Career at Sea and Last Day On Earth: A
Portrait of the NIU School Shooter, winner of the AWP Nonfiction Prize. He has been in
documentaries with the BBC, NOVA, National Geographic, CNN, E! Entertainment, and
written for the Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Outside, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, The
Sunday Times, The Observer, The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph, The Financial Times,
Elle UK, Esquire UK, Esquire Russia, National Geographic Adventure, Writer’s Digest,
McSweeney's, and other magazines and newspapers. A current Guggenheim fellow and former
Wallace Stegner fellow, John L'Heureux fellow, and NEA fellow, he has taught at Stanford,
Cornell, FSU, and is currently a professor at the University of San Francisco.
For 12 years, no agent would send out his first book, Legend of a Suicide, so he went to sea
and became a captain and boat builder. Legend of a Suicide has now won 10 prizes, including
the Prix Medicis Etranger in France for best foreign novel, the Premi Llibreter in Spain for
best foreign novel, the Grace Paley Prize, a California Book Award, and the L’Express
readers’ prize (France). Being translated into 18 languages, Legend of a Suicide is an
international bestseller and has also been on 40 Best Books of the Year lists in 11 countries,
been selected by the New Yorker Book Club and the Times Book Club, read in full on North
German radio, and will be made into a film by Chris Meloni. David has also been listed for
the Sunday Times Short Story Award, the Story Prize, and others. His novel Caribou Island is
an international bestseller being translated into 18 languages, on 25 Best Books of the Year
lists in 9 countries, shortlisted for the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, and will be made
into a film by Bill Guttentag. It was read on the BBC for two weeks, selected by the
Samlerens Bogklub in Denmark, and shortlisted for the Prix du Roman Fnac and Prix Lire &
Virgin in France and also won several local prizes in France. His new novel, Dirt, has just
been published by HarperCollins April 24, 2012. He is the author of the bestselling memoir A
Mile Down: The True Story of a Disastrous Career at Sea and Last Day On Earth: A
Portrait of the NIU School Shooter, winner of the AWP Nonfiction Prize. He has been in
documentaries with the BBC, NOVA, National Geographic, CNN, E! Entertainment, and
written for the Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Outside, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, The
Sunday Times, The Observer, The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph, The Financial Times,
Elle UK, Esquire UK, Esquire Russia, National Geographic Adventure, Writer’s Digest,
McSweeney's, and other magazines and newspapers. A current Guggenheim fellow and former
Wallace Stegner fellow, John L'Heureux fellow, and NEA fellow, he has taught at Stanford,
Cornell, FSU, and is currently a professor at the University of San Francisco.
photo credit Diana Matar
Contact
Tour
8 Books in 18 languages
18 Prizes, Awards, and
Fellowships
60 Best Books Lists
and 16 Bestseller Lists
Hundreds of Reviews
Hundreds of Interviews
34 International Festivals
50 Short stories, Essays,
and Magazine Features
5 Roles in Documentary
Films
Book Clubs
Tour
8 Books in 18 languages
18 Prizes, Awards, and
Fellowships
60 Best Books Lists
and 16 Bestseller Lists
Hundreds of Reviews
Hundreds of Interviews
34 International Festivals
50 Short stories, Essays,
and Magazine Features
5 Roles in Documentary
Films
Book Clubs
"Brave and brilliant." San Francisco Chronicle
New novel out now
"Riveting and impossible to put down." Library
Journal (starred review)
Journal (starred review)