David Guterson (b. 1956)
American novelist and essayist. Born in Seattle, Guterson earned his B.A. and M.F.A. degrees at the University of Washington before teaching high school English for twelve years, all the while writing the short stories collected in The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind (1989) and the essays collected in Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense (1992). Guterson has published four novels: Snow Falling on Cedars (1994), winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award; East of the Mountains (1999); Our Lady of the Forest (2003); and The Other (2008). Guterson is a contributing editor to Harper’s and has published in the New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and elsewhere. Guterson says that he writes out of an “ethical and moral duty... to tell stories that inspire readers to consider more deeply who they are.” See also dcn.davis.ca.us/~gizmo/cedars.html.