John Burnham Schwartz

John Burnham Schwartz is a novelist and screenwriter whose complicated, flawed, and compelling characters have captivated countless readers. A master of historical and literary fiction, his acclaimed novels transport audiences through mesmerizingly detailed stories, from a newcomer’s adventures in Tokyo in Bicycle Days to a tragic Ivy League romance in Claire Marvel. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Reservation Road was adapted into a 2007 major motion picture written by Schwartz and starring Joaquin Pheonix, Mark Ruffalo, and Jennifer Connelly.

Schwartz’s national bestseller, The Commoner, was inspired by the lives of the current empress and crown princess of Japan.  It is a stunning novel about a brutally rarified and controlled existence and the complex relationship between two isolated women. In his novel, The Red Daughter, Schwartz returns to historical fiction—with a personal twist. In this grand saga based on the true story of Svetlana Alliluyeva, Joseph Stalin’s daughter runs from her father’s brutal legacy and defects to the United States. By her side is Peter Horvath, a lawyer sent by the CIA to escort Svetlana to America. Schwartz’s father, high-profile lawyer Alan U. Schwartz, did, in fact, travel under CIA cover in 1967 to Europe to escort Svetlana Alliluyeva to the United States. She visited the Schwartz family numerous times, when the author was young.  In his gripping talks, Schwartz details how he drew upon private papers and years of extensive research to create an unforgettable novel.

Schwartz’s books have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in the New Yorker, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Vogue, the New York Times Book Review and the Wall Street Journal Magazine. He was a co-screenwriter of the 2017 HBO film The Wizard of Lies, starring Robert DeNiro as Bernie Madoff and Michelle Pfeiffer as Ruth Madoff. Schwartz is the literary director of the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference and has taught at Harvard University, the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and Sarah Lawrence College.