Willy Vlautin

Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, Willy Vlautin is the author of seven novels and is the founder of the bands, Richmond Fontaine and the Delines. Vlautin started writing stories and songs at the age of 11 after receiving his first guitar.
His seven published novels are: The Motel Life (2007), Northline (2008), Lean on Pete (2010), The Free (2014), Don’t Skip Out on Me (2018), The Night Always Comes (2021), and The Horse (2024). A new novel, The Left and The Lucky, will be published by HarperCollins in 2026.

Three of his novels, The Motel Life, Lean on Pete, and The Night Always Comes, have been adapted as films.

Vlautin has received the prestigious Joyce Carol Oates literary prize, was a Pen/Faulkner finalist, and is in the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. He lives on a farm with his wife near Portland, Oregon.