Nickolas Butler is the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of several books, including Shotgun Lovesongs, Beneath the Bonfire, The Hearts of Men, Little Faith, Godspeed, and A Forty Year Kiss. His novels have been optioned for the screen by the likes of David E. Kelley and Fox Searchlight. In addition to his fiction, Butler wrote award-winning essays for his hometown newspapers, the Leader-Telegram and Country Today for more than five years, and has contributed many poems, short stories, and journalism to prestigious publications like: Ploughshares, The New York Times Book Review, The Progressive, and Modern Huntsman. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (BA – Honors English) and the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop (MFA Creative Writing – Fiction). He is also a Round River Conservation Studies alumni (Taku River – 2003) and has repeatedly cited Round River for enriching and developing his own environmental and land ethic.

Butler is a lifelong outdoorsman who enjoys hiking, backpacking, canoeing, and hunting – especially pheasant. He lives with his wife, two children, and a dog on 16 acres of land in rural Wisconsin adjacent to a buffalo farm.