Literary Fiction & General Fiction
Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d'Alene) is a Seattle-based novelist, short-story writer, and poet whose works draw on Native American life. He is best known for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007), a semi-autobiographical YA novel that won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Alexie’s debut story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993) was adapted into the film Smoke Signals, and his novel War Dances won the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. His blend of humor and tragedy has earned him numerous honors (including American Book Awards and a 1998 Pushcart Prize), making him one of the Pacific Northwest’s most celebrated contemporary writers.
Tom Robbins
Tom Robbins (1932–2025) was a longtime resident of La Conner, WA (north of Seattle) and an iconic postmodern novelist known for his whimsical, “seriocomedic” style. His cult classics include Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976), a free-spirited novel later adapted into a Gus Van Sant film, as well as Still Life with Woodpecker (1980) and Jitterbug Perfume (1984). Robbins authored nine novels while living in the Puget Sound region, and his oeuvre earned him a reputation as “one of the wildest and most entertaining novelists in the world,” according to the Financial Times. Though originally from North Carolina, Robbins became a beloved figure in Northwest literature for his surreal humor and imaginative prose.
Ivan Doig
Ivan Doig (1939–2015) was a novelist and memoirist who spent much of his adult life in the Seattle area. Doig is acclaimed for his vivid portrayals of the American West, especially his native Montana, in both fiction and nonfiction. He authored 13 novels and three nonfiction books; his breakout memoir This House of Sky (1978) was a finalist for the National Book Award. His best-known novel, Dancing at the Rascal Fair (1987), is part of a Montana trilogy, though he also set a historical novel (The Sea Runners, 1982) on the Puget Sound coast. A masterful storyteller with a historian’s eye, Doig won the 1985 Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award, and This House of Sky became a modern classic of memoir.
Charles R. Johnson
Charles R. Johnson (born 1948) is an African American novelist, essayist, and professor emeritus at UW Seattle known for blending philosophy with fiction. His 1990 novel Middle Passage, a slave-ship drama infused with allegory, won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction – making Johnson the first Black American man to win that honor since Ralph Ellison. A MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Johnson has written novels such as Oxherding Tale and Dreamer, short-story collections, and essays on Buddhism and race. In 1998 he received a MacArthur Fellowship and in 2002 an American Academy of Arts & Letters Award. Now living in Seattle, Johnson remains a nationally revered voice in literary fiction and a mentor to younger writers.
David Guterson
David Guterson (born 1956) is a Seattle-born novelist best known for Snow Falling on Cedars (1994), a courtroom drama set in a Puget Sound island community. That novel – which explores themes of love and racism against Japanese Americans after World War II – was an international bestseller and won the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. It was later adapted into an acclaimed film. Guterson, who lives on Bainbridge Island, has also written novels such as East of the Mountains (1999) and Our Lady of the Forest (2003), as well as short stories and essays. A former high-school teacher, he brings a lyrical, atmospheric style to Pacific Northwest settings, and Snow Falling on Cedars remains a cornerstone of Washington state literature.
Maria Semple
Maria Semple (born 1964) is a Seattle-based novelist and former TV writer (for shows like Arrested Development). She is best known for the comic novel Where’d You Go, Bernadette (2012), which spent over a year on The New York Times bestseller list. Set in Seattle, Bernadette satirizes the tech-boom culture and earned Semple an Alex Award and a Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist. Her other novels include This One is Mine (2008) and Today Will Be Different (2016). Semple’s witty, quirky style has made her a standout in contemporary humor writing. A resident of Seattle since 2006, she is also a founder of the Seattle7Writers collective and an active member of the local literary community.
Jonathan Evison (Bainbridge Island / Seattle)
A Washington State Book Award winner, Evison is known for emotionally resonant, humor-infused fiction such as All About Lulu, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving (adapted for Netflix), and Lawn Boy—hailed as “a Holden Caulfield for a new millennium” (washingtoncenterforthebook.org, en.wikipedia.org).
Jess Walter (Spokane-based, regional relevance)
Dubbed America’s “spot news novelist,” his latest So Far Gone (June 2025) tackles contemporary political divisions. A former newspaperman, he writes perceptive, character-driven fiction rooted in Washington (washingtonpost.com).
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Seattle’s Puget Sound region has produced some of the giants of science fiction and fantasy, from Golden Age pioneers to modern cyberpunk innovators:
Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert (1920–1986) was born in Tacoma, WA, and became world-famous as the author of Dune (1965), one of the best-selling science fiction novels of all time. Dune — a sweeping epic of politics, ecology, and religion on a desert planet — earned both the inaugural Nebula Award (1965) and the Hugo Award (1966), cementing Herbert’s legacy. He wrote five sequels and inspired countless authors (and multiple screen adaptations). Herbert’s Northwest roots showed in other works like The Dosadi Experiment and his environmentalism. He started as a journalist in Seattle and Olympia; by the 1970s he lived on the Olympic Peninsula. His visionary influence on sci-fi is immeasurable, and the success of Dune made him the first global sci-fi superstar from the Puget Sound area.
Octavia E. Butler
Octavia Butler (1947–2006) was a pioneering African American science fiction author who spent the last decade of her life in the Seattle area (she lived in Lake Forest Park). Renowned for her profound explorations of race, gender, and power, Butler wrote classics like Kindred (1979), a time-travel novel confronting slavery, and the Parable series (1993–1998) set in a dystopian future America. She earned multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and in 1995 became the first sci-fi writer to receive a MacArthur “Genius” Grant. Butler’s move to Washington in 1999 did not slow her output – she mentored local writers and continued to write until her untimely death. Today she’s revered as an icon of speculative fiction who brought diversity and literary depth to the genre.
Neal Stephenson
Neal Stephenson (born 1959) is a Seattle-based author known for cerebral, genre-blending speculative fiction. A key figure in cyberpunk/post-cyberpunk, Stephenson achieved cult status with Snow Crash (1992), a hacker adventure that popularized the term “metaverse.” He followed with expansive historical-science epics like Cryptonomicon (1999), set partly in WWII and 1990s Seattle, and the Baroque Cycle trilogy. Stephenson’s Seveneves (2015) and Anathem (2008) have also been bestsellers. He has won the Locus Award multiple times and was honored with the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. A resident of Seattle, Stephenson has worked with local tech (Blue Origin and Magic Leap) and his mix of hacker savvy and imagination has made him one of today’s most influential science fiction writers.
Greg Bear
Greg Bear (1951–2022) was a science fiction titan who spent most of his life in the Seattle area. He wrote over 50 books ranging from hard sci-fi to space opera. Bear’s novel Blood Music (1985) pioneered the concept of nanotechnology in fiction, and his acclaimed works Eon (1985), Forge of God (1987), and Darwin’s Radio (1999) explored cosmic ideas and biotech. Bear won at least two Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards in his career, and served as president of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lived in Seattle and was part of a circle of local SF luminaries (co-founding the San Diego Comic-Con before moving north). Greg Bear’s imaginative scope and scientific rigor made him a central figure in late 20th-century sci-fi.
Terry Brooks
Terry Brooks (born 1944) is a best-selling fantasy author who has long resided in the Seattle area. He burst onto the scene with The Sword of Shannara (1977), the first fantasy novel to reach #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, which launched a 20-book Shannara series. Brooks’ works – high fantasy epics filled with elves, druids, and quests – helped bring Tolkien-style fantasy into the commercial mainstream. A former attorney who moved to Seattle in the 1980s, Brooks also penned the Magic Kingdom of Landover series and novelizations for Star Wars. Over his career he’s received life achievement honors like the 2017 World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Brooks’ enduring popularity and prolific output have made him a pillar of fantasy literature, with Pacific Northwest fans among his most devoted.
Robin Hobb (Megan Lindholm)
Robin Hobb is the pen name of Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden (born 1952), a fantasy novelist based in Tacoma, WA. Under the Hobb name she’s known globally for the Farseer Trilogy (beginning with Assassin’s Apprentice, 1995) and subsequent series like The Liveship Traders and The Rain Wilds Chronicles. Her books, praised for emotional depth and complex characters, have sold millions of copies. Before adopting the Hobb pseudonym, she wrote contemporary fantasy as Megan Lindholm. A resident of Tacoma, she often appears at local conventions and signings. Hobb has won the Endeavour Award (for Pacific NW writers) and received lifetime achievement honors from World Fantasy Convention in 2021. She’s frequently cited as one of the finest living fantasy writers, with a unique tie to the Puget Sound region she calls home.
(Other genre authors of note include Cherie Priest, a onetime Seattleite whose steampunk thriller Boneshaker (2009) launched an award-winning series set in 19th-century Seattle, and Richelle Mead, a Kirkland-based fantasy author known for the popular YA series Vampire Academy (2007–) and Bloodlines.)
Mystery, Thriller & True Crime
Elizabeth George
Elizabeth George (born 1949) is an American mystery novelist who lives on Whidbey Island, Washington. Despite her Pacific Northwest home, she’s famous for writing very English crime novels: the Inspector Thomas Lynley series, set in Britain. George’s debut A Great Deliverance (1988) won both the Agatha and Anthony Awards for Best First Novel, an astonishing feat for an American writing a UK detective. Since then she has published 20+ Lynley mysteries, many reaching the bestseller lists and adapted for BBC television. She’s also written a YA series set on Whidbey Island. George’s intricate plotting and psychological depth have earned her a Grand Master designation from the Mystery Writers of America. As a local resident, she supports Northwest writers (founding the Whidbey Island Writers Conference) even as her work garners international acclaim.
J.A. Jance
Judith A. Jance (born 1944) is a prolific mystery/thriller author who splits her time between Seattle and Arizona. Jance has created multiple fan-favorite series, notably the J.P. Beaumont novels following a Seattle homicide detective, and the Joanna Brady series about an Arizona sheriff. She debuted with Until Proven Guilty (1985), introducing Detective Beaumont, and has since written over 60 mysteries – all bestsellers. Jance’s books often draw on real locales (Seattle neighborhoods, Arizona deserts) and she was honored with the Strand Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 for her contributions to crime fiction. A trailblazer among women in the genre, Jance continues to publish page-turners almost yearly, keeping Seattle’s fictional streets rife with intrigue.
Ann Rule
Ann Rule (1931–2015) was America’s most famous true-crime writer, and she called the Seattle area home for most of her life. A former Seattle police officer, Rule gained renown with The Stranger Beside Me (1980) – her chilling insider account of serial killer Ted Bundy, whom she knew personally. That landmark book made true crime a popular genre and is considered one of the definitive Bundy chronicles. Rule went on to write 30+ books, many focusing on murder cases in the Pacific Northwest (e.g. Small Sacrifices, Green River, Running Red). Known for her exhaustive research and compassionate storytelling, she won two Anthony Awards and was named a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master. Rule’s legacy looms large in Seattle; she helped illuminate the dark corners of local crimes while mentoring younger true-crime writers. (One such writer is Gregg Olsen of Olalla, WA, who has penned true-crime bestsellers like Starvation Heights.)
Nonfiction & History
Timothy Egan
Timothy Egan (born 1954) is an acclaimed non-fiction author and journalist from Seattle. A long-time New York Times correspondent, Egan won a share of the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for a series on race in America. He then turned to historical books, most notably The Worst Hard Time (2006), a gripping account of Dust Bowl survivors that won the National Book Award for Nonfiction. His other bestsellers include Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher (2012), a biography of photographer Edward Curtis which won the Carnegie Medal, and The Big Burn (2009) about Teddy Roosevelt and wildfire. Egan’s narrative nonfiction often links Western U.S. history to contemporary lessons. A proud Seattleite, he peppers his opinion columns and talks with Pacific Northwest perspective, and in 2024 he won the Washington State Book Award for A Fever in the Heartland.
Erik Larson
Erik Larson (born 1954) is a master of narrative nonfiction who lives in Seattle. He specializes in history told through a novelistic lens, and has produced a string of cross-genre bestsellers. His breakout was Isaac’s Storm (1999) about the 1900 Galveston hurricane, but his biggest hit is The Devil in the White City (2003), which intertwines the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with the crimes of a serial killer. That book was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. Larson continued his success with Thunderstruck (2006), In the Garden of Beasts (2011), and The Splendid and the Vile (2020), among others. His nonfiction reads like thriller fiction, which has brought him popular and critical acclaim. A former Wall Street Journal reporter, Larson moved to Seattle in the late 1990s; he credits the city’s quiet for helping him write, and indeed Devil’s success even earned him an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.
Daniel James Brown
Daniel James Brown (born 1951) is a nonfiction author based in the Seattle area (he lives in Redmond). He wrote the runaway bestseller The Boys in the Boat (2013), the inspiring true story of the University of Washington’s rowing team that won gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Blending sports, history, and human drama, the book was widely praised as a “triumph of sports history and of storytelling”. It spent over two years on bestseller lists and is being adapted into a feature film. Brown has since written other celebrated histories, such as Facing the Mountain (2021) about Japanese American WWII soldiers from Seattle. A meticulous researcher and engaging narrator, Brown has helped shine a spotlight on Pacific Northwest history for a global readership, and The Boys in the Boat remains one of the region’s literary touchstones of the past decade.
Jonathan Raban
Jonathan Raban (1942–2023) was an influential British-born author who adopted Seattle as his home in 1990. A travel writer, critic, and novelist, Raban was known for incisive, elegant prose that examined cultures and landscapes. His nonfiction classic Bad Land: An American Romance (1996), about homesteaders in Montana, won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Other notable works include Passage to Juneau (1999), an autobiographical voyage up the Inside Passage from Seattle, and Hunting Mister Heartbreak (1990), which profiled American cities (including a stint in Seattle). Raban also penned well-received novels like Waxwings (2003), set in dot-com era Seattle. He garnered numerous honors (NBCC Award, PEN West Award, etc.) and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Raban’s witty observations of Seattle and the American West, in both fiction and nonfiction, left an indelible mark on Northwest literature.
Rick Steves
Rick Steves (born 1955) is America’s most famous travel guide writer, and he hails from Edmonds, WA (north of Seattle). For over 40 years, Steves has authored the popular Europe Through the Back Door guidebooks and hosted PBS travel shows that encourage Americans to explore Europe authentically. His guidebooks – from Rick Steves’ Italy to Rick Steves’ London – are perennial bestsellers and have made him a household name in travel. Based in the Puget Sound region, Steves operates his business from Edmonds and remains deeply involved in local civic life. He’s also written travel memoirs and political commentary on topics like marijuana reform. Steves won the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award and was inducted into the Travel Hall of Fame. His approachable, culturally curious writing style has inspired generations of travelers, while his headquarters in Edmonds makes him a distinctive part of the regional literary community.
Murray Morgan
Murray Morgan (1916–2000) was a prolific historian, author, and journalist celebrated for chronicling the Puget Sound region’s past. A Tacoma native, Morgan wrote the classic Skid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle (1951), which vividly narrates Seattle’s frontier-era history with wry humor. He also penned South on the Sound (about Tacoma) and The Last Wilderness (about the Olympic Peninsula), among 20 books total. Morgan’s engaging, literary style of history earned him the nickname “the voice of Puget Sound.” He taught at Tacoma’s colleges and was a bridge tender by day, famously writing many books in the bridge tower. Although not as nationally famous as some contemporaries, locally he was revered – Murray Morgan Bridge in Tacoma is named in his honor. His work received recognition like the Washington State Governor’s Writer Award, and he remains the go-to historian for readers seeking an entertaining yet informative take on Puget Sound lore.
(Another notable local historian was Bill Speidel (1912–1988), author of Sons of the Profits (1967), a popular history of early Seattle known for its witty expose of the city’s founders. Speidel’s book became a Seattle classic and led him to found the Underground Tour of historic Pioneer Square.)
Memoir & Social Commentary
Ijeoma Oluo
Ijeoma Oluo (born 1980) is a writer and speaker who became one of Seattle’s leading voices on issues of race, feminism, and social justice. Her 2018 book So You Want to Talk About Race – a frank, empathetic guide to discussing racism – was a New York Times bestseller and made Oluo internationally known. She has been named among Seattle’s most influential people. Oluo’s writing (appearing in The Guardian, New York Magazine, etc.) blends personal memoir and cultural critique, often reflecting on her experiences as a Black woman in Seattle. In 2020, she published Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, further cementing her reputation as, in Seattle Met’s words, a “longtime journalist” and thought leader. Her accolades include the 2018 Feminist Humanist Award and an NAACP Image Award nomination. Oluo’s approachable yet uncompromising style has sparked difficult but necessary conversations nationwide.
Lindy West
Lindy West (born 1982) is a Seattle-born author and columnist known for her wit and incisive commentary on feminism, body image, and pop culture. Her memoir Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman (2016) – in which she humorously tackles topics from fat-shaming to internet trolls – became a bestseller and was adapted into a Hulu television series. West started as a film critic and blogger (with The Stranger and Jezebel) and later wrote an opinion column for The New York Times. In 2018 she published The Witches Are Coming, a punchy essay collection about the #MeToo era. West’s voice is proudly Pacific Northwest in its sly, progressive sensibility, and she often references her Seattle upbringing in her work. She won the 2013 Women’s Media Center Social Media Award and was featured on TIME’s list of young activists. Both fierce and funny, Lindy West has used personal narrative to challenge cultural norms and champion acceptance.
(Other memoirists of note include Claire Dederer of Bainbridge Island, author of the bestselling yoga memoir Poser and the recent critical memoir Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, and Angela Garbes, whose Seattle-based motherhood memoir Essential Labor continues the region’s tradition of blending personal insight with social critique.)
Young Adult & Children’s Literature
Deb Caletti
Deb Caletti (born 1963) is an award-winning author of young adult and adult fiction who lives in the Seattle area. She has published over 20 novels known for their emotional depth and realistic teen characters, often set in Washington state. Her YA novel Honey, Baby, Sweetheart (2004) won the Washington State Book Award for Young Adult lit and was a finalist for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature. Other popular YA titles include The Nature of Jade (2007) and Stay (2011). In recent years Caletti has written acclaimed adult novels as well, such as The Quiet You Carry and One Great Lie. She received a PNBA Award and the Josette Frank Award for her work. Caletti’s novels frequently explore family, love, and resilience, drawing on the scenic backdrop of the Pacific Northwest for inspiration. She remains a beloved figure in Seattle’s literary scene, engaging in school visits and writer workshops to mentor young writers.
Marissa Meyer
Marissa Meyer (born 1984) is a #1 New York Times–bestselling YA author from Tacoma, WA. She rocketed to fame with The Lunar Chronicles (2012–2015), a quartet of young adult novels that ingeniously reimagine fairy tales in a sci-fi future – beginning with Cinder (set in a dystopian Beijing) and including titles like Scarlet and Cress. Cinder, Meyer’s debut, was published in 2012 and quickly became a hit, establishing her as a fresh new voice in YA fantasy. She has since written Heartless (2016), an Alice in Wonderland retelling, and the Renegades superhero trilogy (2017–2019). Meyer’s books have won numerous teen reader awards and have been translated into 40+ languages. A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, Meyer often credits her local writing community and anime fan conventions for sparking the ideas behind The Lunar Chronicles. She continues to live and write in the Puget Sound region, much to the delight of her local fanbase.
Kirby Larson
Kirby Larson (born 1954) is a children’s and middle-grade author from Kenmore, WA (near Seattle) who specializes in historical fiction. Her novel Hattie Big Sky (2006), about a 16-year-old homesteader in 1918 Montana, was named a Newbery Honor Book in 2007. That honor – one of the highest in children’s literature – propelled Larson to national recognition. She followed it with a sequel (Hattie Ever After) and other acclaimed books like The Friendship Doll and Dash (which won the Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction). Larson’s works often illuminate real historical events (e.g. Japanese American families in WWII) through youthful eyes. In addition to the Newbery Honor, she’s received the Washington State Book Award and multiple finalists for the PNBA Award. Larson is active in the Seattle literary community and frequently mentors young writers, helping preserve the tradition of vibrant children’s literature in the Northwest.
Sundee T. Frazier
Sundee T. Frazier (born 1968) is a Seattle-area author known for middle-grade novels celebrating multiracial identity and family. She burst onto the scene with Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It (2007), about a science-loving biracial boy reconnecting with family – a debut that earned Frazier the ALA Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. She followed up with titles like The Other Half of My Heart (2010), featuring biracial twin sisters, and Mighty Inside (2021), inspired by her Black family’s history in Spokane. Frazier’s books have won praise for their warmth, humor, and honest exploration of race. In addition to the CSK/Steptoe Award, she has earned spots on several state award lists and a Peterson First Book Award. She lives just outside Seattle with her family, and her success has contributed to greater diversity in children’s literature from the region.
Tae Keller
Tae Keller (born 1993) is a rising star in children’s literature who resides in Seattle. Keller achieved a stunning feat by winning the 2021 Newbery Medal – the most prestigious award in American children’s books – for her novel When You Trap a Tiger. This heartfelt story blends Korean folklore with a contemporary tale of a girl and her halmoni (grandmother), reflecting Keller’s own Korean American heritage. It also won the Asian/Pacific American Literature Award. Keller’s debut The Science of Breakable Things (2018) had already garnered acclaim, but When You Trap a Tiger vaulted her into the upper echelon of kidlit writers. Raised in Hawaii (she’s the granddaughter of noted Honolulu author Nora Okja Keller), Tae Keller moved to Seattle and has made the city her creative home. As a young author, she has been celebrated for her lyrical prose and the way her books affirm the power of storytelling across generations.
You’re absolutely right — the Puget Sound region is home to many more vibrant and current writers. Here’s an expanded list spotlighting several significant contemporary authors, across genres:
🧠 Nonfiction & Essays
Lauren Kessler (University of Washington professor)
An award-winning immersion journalist, Kessler’s nonfiction includes Free: Two Years, Six Lives, and the Long Journey Home (Oregon Book Award winner), Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer’s, and Clever Girl—a Washington Post bestseller (en.wikipedia.org).
Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe (Coast Salish writer, Tacoma/Olympia)
Her memoir Red Paint (2022) won both the Washington State and Pacific Northwest Book Awards. Her 2024 essay collection, Thunder Song, has been praised for its powerful exploration of indigenous identity (en.wikipedia.org).
📚 Local Voices & Emerging Writers
Jim Lynch (The Highest Tide, set on Puget Sound)
Critically acclaimed coming-of-age fiction painting a lyrical portrait of Puget Sound life (modernmrsdarcy.com).
Kate Lebo (The Book of Difficult Fruit)
A lyric essays-and-recipes hybrid that reflects deeply on regional food culture and identity .
👩👧 Memoir & Personal Essays
Sasha LaPointe (see above)
Indigenous-punk memoirist and poet, bridging ancestral heritage and personal narrative.
🔍 Additional Worthy Mentions
-
Rebecca Solnit – Influential nonfiction writer on history and culture, Battle of Seattle author (en.wikipedia.org, businessinsider.com).
-
David B. Williams – Regional natural history chronicler, author of Home Waters about Puget Sound (kuow.org).
Each of these authors – whether internationally renowned or beloved in the local community – highlights the Puget Sound region’s rich and diverse literary heritage. From groundbreaking Indigenous voices and Pulitzer Prize journalists to visionary fantasists and champions of children’s imagination, Western Washington’s writers have made indelible contributions to literature in every genre. Their notable works and honors testify to a creative community as abundant and dynamic as the Puget Sound itself.
