David Guterson

David Guterson

David Guterson was born May 4, 1956, in Seattle, Washington. He attended at the University of Washington where he earned Bachelor of Arts Degree in English literature and a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing. Then going to working as a teacher for 12 years before writing professionally. Guterson began to publish stories and essays in small magazines and periodicals during his teaching career. Later publishing his first book in 1989, was a collection of short stories set mostly in the Pacific Northwest called The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind.

His work did not gain popularity till 1994 when his published his award winning novel Snow Falling on Cedars. In the early morning hours over a ten-year period during his teaching career, Guterson wrote Snow Falling on Cedars. However, David quit his teaching because of the success of his novel and began to write full-time.

Over the years Guterson produced five more books and freelances journalism writing articles on environmental issues, travel writing and human interests. The books that he wrote from the time of Snow Falling on Cedars, are: The Drowned Son (1996), East of the Mountains (1998), Our Lady of the Forest (2003), The Other (2008) and Ed King (2011). David Guterson got married at the age of 23 and has four children. He is currently living on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound, and is the co-fonder of Fields End, an organization for writers.