David Bezmozgis is an award-winning writer and filmmaker whose work spans fiction and screenwriting. Born in Riga, Latvia, he immigrated to Canada with his family in 1980 and later earned an MFA from USC's School of Cinema-Television. His debut collection, "Natasha and Other Stories," was published in 2004 to critical acclaim, earning recognition as a New York Times Notable Book and winning the Toronto Book Award and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for First Book. The collection was translated into fifteen languages and shortlisted for several prestigious awards, including the Guardian First Book Award and the Governor General’s Award. In 2010, The New Yorker named him one of the twenty most promising fiction writers under forty.
Bezmozgis's writing often explores themes of immigration, identity, and displacement, drawing from his own experiences as a Latvian-Jewish immigrant. His first novel, "The Free World" (2011), was followed by "The Betrayers" (2014), which won the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction. Beyond literature, he has adapted his work for film, including "Victoria Day" (2009) and "Natasha" (2017), the latter earning a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. His short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, and The Walrus, among others, and have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories.
A Guggenheim Fellow and former fellow at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Bezmozgis has also contributed to television as a writer for the BBC America series "Orphan Black." He currently resides in Toronto, where he directs the Humber School for Writers. His work continues to garner international recognition for its nuanced storytelling and exploration of cultural and generational divides.