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Peter Heller
New York Times Bestselling Author of The Dog Stars, Celine, The Painter, and The River (Penguin Random House)
Journalist, NPR Contributor
Peter Heller is the national best-selling author of Celine, The Painter, The Dog Stars, and most recently, The River (all published with Penguin Random House). The Painter was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and won the prestigious Reading the West Book Award (previous winners include Cormac McCarthy and Terry Tempest Williams). The Dog Stars received critical acclaim and was lauded as a breakout bestseller; it has been published in twenty-two languages to date. Heller is also the author of four nonfiction books, including Kook: What Surfing Taught Me About Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave, which was awarded the National Outdoor Book Award for Literature. He holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in poetry and fiction, is a longtime contributor to NPR and Bloomberg Businessweek, and is a contributing editor at Outside Magazine, Men’s Journal, and National Geographic Adventure. He lives in Denver, Colorado.
Keynote Lecture Topics
- Extreme Environmental Journalism
- Translating Real-Life Adventures to Words
- The Craft of Writing: Fiction & Nonfiction
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Testimonials:
“Peter Heller is, hands down, one of our all-time favorite authors who has ascended the National Writers Series stage. So popular, in fact, that he is one of the few authors we’ve invited back a second time. Peter is an engaging speaker with an infectious laugh, a quick wit and a gregarious heart with exciting tales to tell. When you hear of his extreme adventures whether shooting the rapids or saving dolphins, you’ll aspire to be just like him … if only you could.” —Anne Stanton, Executive Director, National Writers Series
Peter Heller travels from Denver, CO.
Books
Praise for The River
National Bestseller
“Utter joy… A suspenseful tale told with glorious drama and lyrical flair.”
Praise for Celine
National Bestseller
“Ingenious… Like Mark Twain and Toni Morrison, Heller is a rare talent… It’s as if Heller took the tender yet tough-as-nails personality of writer Annie Proulx and cast her on the page, in all her plainspoken, intellectually impeccable, deeply wise—and wise-ass—glory.”
Praise for The Painter
National Bestseller
“Heller’s writing is sure-footed and rip-roaring, star-bright and laced with ‘dark yearning,’ coalescing in an ever-escalating, ravishing, grandly engrossing and satisfying tale of righteousness and revenge, artistic fervor and moral ambiguity.””
Praise for The Dog Stars
The New York Times Bestseller
“Extraordinary. . . . One of those books that makes you happy for literature.”