Richard Russo (born July 15, 1949) is an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and teacher. In 2002, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for his novel Empire Falls.^[1] Several of his works have been adapted into television series and movies. He is known for his realistic depictions of rural, small-town life in the Northeastern United States, particularly in Maine, Pennsylvania, and Russo’s native Upstate New York.

Russo was born in Johnstown, New York, and raised in nearby Gloversville.^[2] His parents were divorced.^[3] His father, Jim Russo, was a highway worker.^[3] During Richard Russo’s summer breaks from college, he and his father would work together on the road crew, then stop at pubs to tell stories about their work.^[3] Richard Russo has compared his father’s process of altering his stories based on what got a laugh at the previous pub to the process of revising a novel.^[3]

He earned a bachelor’s degree, a Master of Fine Arts degree, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Arizona, which he attended from 1967 through 1979.^[2] The subject of his doctoral dissertation was the works of the early American writer, historian and editor Charles Brockden Brown.^[4]

While in graduate school, Russo admired Mark Twain and Charles Dickens’ writing styles.^[3]