Dave Cullen's Biography

Dave Cullen spent ten years writing and researching Columbine, a haunting portrait of two killers and eight victims. It became a break-out bestseller last spring 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 little boy outside Chicago. 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.

By 33, Dave had socked away a freedom fund to devote himself to writing. 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 eight weeks on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list. It won the Edgar Award, Barnes & Noble's Discover Award and the Goodreads Choice Award. It is a finalist for the LA Times Book Award, the American Library Association's Alex Award for young adults, the Audie Award, and the MPIBA Regional Book Award. Columbine was named to two dozen Best of 2009 lists, including the New York Times, LA Times, Publishers Weekly, iTunes and the ALA. It was declared Top Education Book of 2009 and one of the best of the decade by the American School Board Journal.

Dave lives in Denver and travels extensively to high schools and colleges, where students have embraced the book. An Instructor Guide is available at his website. He developed an online companion site and research tool for the book, offering much more on the tragedy: Columbine Online.