Dave Cullen

Dave Cullen spent ten years writing and researching Columbine, a haunting portrait of two killers and eight victims. It became a break-out bestseller and won several major awards.

Cullen has been described as a cultural translator, writing about Evangelical Christians, gays in the military, Barbie doll collectors . . . anyone on the margins. He has contributed to the New York Times, Washington Post, Times of London, Slate, Salon, Daily Beast and the Guardian.

Dave began writing as a young boy in the Chicago suburbs. He dove passionately into journalism in high school and college, then wandered. He became an infantry soldier, management consultant, computer systems analyst and undergraduate instructor in scattered cities across the U.S., England, Kuwait and Bahrain. He traveled to 26 countries, with a penchant for north Africa and south Asia.

At 33 Dave devoted himself to writing full-time. He began with the University of Colorado-Boulder's writing program, where he won the Jovanovich Award for best master's thesis. He later won a GLAAD Media Award, an SPJ Award and is an Ochberg Fellow at the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma at Columbia University's Journalism School.

Columbine spent thirteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists. It won the Edgar Award, Barnes & Noble's Discover Award, the Goodreads Choice Award, and The Truth About The Fact's Literary Nonfiction Book of the Year Award. It was a finalist for the LA Times Book Award, the ALA's Alex Award, the Audie Award, and the MPIBA Book Award. Columbine was named to two dozen Best of 2009 lists, including the New York Times, LA Times and Publishers Weekly. It was declared Top Education Book of 2009 by the American School Board Journal.

Dave was planning a move to New York City when Columbine happened. He remained in Denver to research, write and promote the book, and moved to NYC in July 2010. He is happy there. He travels extensively to high schools and colleges to teach writing and discuss the tragedy.