David Guterson is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 novelist, short story writer, poet, journalist, and essayist.
David Guterson was born May 4, 1956, in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

. During his childhood, he attended Seattle public schools

Seattle Public Schools

Seattle Public Schools is the school district serving Seattle, Washington, USA. Its headquarters are in the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.-List of schools:...

 and later attended the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 where he earned Bachelor of Arts Degree in English literature and a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing. Guterson is also a Guggenheim Fellow.
Before writing professionally, Guterson worked as a teacher for 12 years.