David Grann

David Grann is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and a staff writer at The New Yorker. His first book, "The Lost City of Z," described his perilous journey into the Amazon to discover a glittering ancient civilization and the fate of a missing British explorer. The book, which the New York Times called "suspenseful," "rollicking," and "magical," became an international bestseller and was translated into more than twenty-five languages. Numerous publications, including the Times, Entertainment Weekly, and the Washington Post, named "The Lost City of Z" one of the best books of 2009, and it received the Indie Choice award for the best nonfiction work of the year. The book is currently being developed into a film by Plan B, Brad Pitt's production company.

At The New Yorker, Grann has written about everything from the mysterious death of the world's greatest Sherlock Holmes' scholar to the U.S. presidential campaign, from the search for the giant squid to the execution of a potentially innocent man. His work and lectures often focus on the character traits and powers of perception that lead to the greatest discoveries, and also on how unsuspecting biases and misperceptions can impair our judgment and produce fatal consequences. He also frequently speaks about "The Lost City of Z" and the scientific revolution that is transforming our understanding of what the Americas looked like before the arrival of Christopher Columbus; about the criminal justice system; and about the nature of investigative reporting and storytelling.

Many of Grann's stories are collected in his most recent book, "The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession." A critic, reviewing the book for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote, "David Grann, please come to dinner. I'll invite my best friends and make your favorite dessert if you'll just sit awhile and tell your stories. You know the fine points of stealing bases, blasting tunnels and knifing a man dead with one thrust. You know Sherlock Holmes' methods as well as Watson did. You can describe the motives of fire. And you've bought candy bars from prison vending machines for the creepiest among us." Each of Grann's stories, she concluded, "will make your heart race and, at times, ache."

Grann received a 2009 George Polk award for his groundbreaking story on the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham in Texas. He has also received a Sigma Delta Chi Award for investigative reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists and a Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association. Grann's stories have appeared in "The Best American Crime Writing," of 2004, 2005, and 2009, and "The Best American Sports Writing," of 2003 and 2006. He has previously written for the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic.

Before joining The New Yorker in 2003, Grann was a senior editor at The New Republic, and, from 1995 until 1996, the executive editor of the newspaper The Hill. He holds master's degrees in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy as well as in creative writing from Boston University. After graduating from Connecticut College in 1989, he received a Thomas Watson Fellowship and did research in Mexico, where he began his career in journalism. He currently lives in New York with his wife and two children.