Willy Vlautin has published eight novels. They include The Motel Life (2007), which was The New York Times Editors’ Choice and Notable Book, and was made into a major motion picture starring Dakota Fanning, Emile Hirsh, Stephen Dorff, and Kris Kristofferson; Northline (2008); Lean on Pete (2010), which won the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and was made into a film starring Steve Buscemi and Chloe Sevigny; The Free (2014), winner of the Oregon People’s Choice Award; and Don't Skip Out On Me (2018). The Night Always Comes was released in April 2021 and it was made into a film in 2025. His novel The Horse (2024) was a finalist for the 2025 Oregon Book Awards. His most recent novel The Left and the Lucky was published in 2026. Vlautin has been the recipient of three Oregon Book Awards, The Nevada Silver Pin Award, and was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame and Oregon Music Hall of Fame. He was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and was short-listed for the IMPAC Awards (International Dublin Literary Award). In 2025 he won the prestigious Joyce Carol Oates Award. Vlautin founded the bands Richmond Fontaine in 1994 and The Delines in 2014, featuring vocalist Amy Boone (The Damnations). He currently resides in Scappoose, Oregon.