Richard Russo grew up in Gloversville, NY, He received his B.A. in English at the University of Arizona along with his Ph.D. in American Literature in 1980. He also earned a master of fine arts degree in creative writing in 1981. He was a former fiction instructor at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and a former professor of creative writing at Colby College in Waterville, MD.

Russo began writing his first book, Mohawk, at a local diner in between teaching his classes. He turned his attention to writing full-time after the success of his novel, Nobody’s Fool.

He is best-known for writing about blue collar life in small towns. He writes about “Main Street USA.” In 2002 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls. He is also well-known for his novel, Straight Man.

Russo lives in Maine with his wife and two daughters.