David Vann (born October 19, 1966,

Adak Island Adak Island (, ; ) or Father Island is an island near the western extent of the Andreanof Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Alaska's southernmost city, Adak, is located on the island. The island has a land area of , measuring lo ...

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) is an

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novelist and short story writer, and was formerly a professor of creative writing at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

in England. Vann received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

and has been a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

fellow, a Wallace Stegner fellow, and a John L'Heureux fellow. His work has appeared in many magazines and newspapers. His books have been published in 23 languages and have won 14 prizes and been on 83 'best books of the year' lists. They have been selected for ''The'' ''New Yorker'' Book Club, the ''Times'' Book Club, the Samlerens Bogklub in Denmark and have been optioned for film by Inkfactory and Haut et Court. He has appeared in documentaries with the

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, and E!.

Works

* 2005—''A Mile Down: The True Story of a Disastrous Career at Sea'' * 2008—''Legend of a Suicide'', stories and a novella * 2011—''Caribou Island'' * 2011—''Last Day On Earth: A Portrait of the NIU School Shooter'' * 2012—''Dirt'' * 2013—''Goat Mountain'' * 2014—''Crocodile: Memoirs from a Mexican Drug-Running Port'', published in Spanish only * 2015—''Aquarium'' * 2017—''Bright Air Black'' * 2019—''Halibut on the Moon'' * 2020—''Le bleu au-delà (The Blue Beyond)'', published in French only * 2021—''Komodo'', published in French only

Prizes

* 2007—

Grace Paley Grace Paley (December 11, 1922 – August 22, 2007), Goodside, was an American short story author, poet, teacher, and political activist. Paley wrote three critically acclaimed collections of short stories, which were compiled in the Pulitzer Pr ...

Prize for Short Fiction for ''Legend of a Suicide/Sukkwan Island'' * 2008—

California Book Award The Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to ...

for ''Legend of a Suicide/Sukkwan Island'' * 2009—

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Nonfiction Award for ''Last Day on Earth: A Portrait of the NIU School Shooter'' * 2010—

Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis () is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and .

Étranger (best foreign novel), France, for ''Legend of a Suicide/Sukkwan Island'' * 2010—Le Prix des Lecteurs de L’Express, France, for ''Legend of a Suicide/Sukkwan Island'' * 2011—Premi Llibreter, Spain, best foreign novel for ''Legend of a Suicide/Sukkwan Island'' * 2013—

St. Francis College Literary Prize The St. Francis College Literary Prize is a biennial literary award inaugurated in 2009. The prize of is presented to an author in honor of a third to fifth book of fiction and is meant to offer encouragement and significant financial support to a ...

for ''Dirt'' * Henfield/Transatlantic Review Award for ''Legend of a Suicide/Sukkwan Island'' * 2010—Le Prix des Lecteurs de la Maison du Livre de Rodez for ''Legend of a Suicide'' * 2011—Prix du Marais (regional public library prize in France) for ''Legend of a Suicide'' * 2011—Le Prix de la librairie Nouvelle de Voiron for ''Caribou Island'' * 1st place in Fish Stories Best Fiction Contest for ''Legend of a Suicide'' * 1st prize winner of River City Writing Awards for ''Legend of a Suicide'' * Le Prix de la Médiathèque de Saint-Genis-les-Ollières for ''Legend of a Suicide''

Prize Lists

Finalist

2nd place Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society Prize for the novel for ''Legend of a Suicide'' 2011—Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, The Center for Fiction, New York for ''Caribou Island'' 2011—Prix du Roman Fnac, France, second place for ''Caribou Island'' 2011—Le Prix Lire & Virgin, France, for ''Caribou Island'' 2012—PEN CENTER USA Literary Awards finalist in Creative Nonfiction for ''Last Day On Earth'' 2012—The Sunday Times Short Story Award shortlist (final 5 out of 1,150), for a short story, “It’s Not Yours” 2013—Prix du Festival Lire en Poche de Gradignan, for ''Caribou Island'' 2013—finalist, Grand prix de Littérature policière, France, for ''Dirt'' 2013—finalist, California Book Award in Fiction for ''Goat Mountain''

Longlisted

2008—The Story Prize, for ''Legend of a Suicide'' 2013—International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for ''Caribou Island'' 2013—Chautauqua Prize, for ''Goat Mountain'' 2014—International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for ''Dirt'' Two Pushcart Prize nominations for ''Legend of a Suicide''

References

External links

Author Website
KGNU Claudia Cragg radio interview with David Vann on 'Caribou Island' {{DEFAULTSORT:Vann, David 1966 births Living people Writers from Alaska American short story writers American academics of English literature Stanford University alumni University of San Francisco alumni Prix Médicis étranger winners St. Francis College Literary Prize Stegner Fellows People from Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska