Peter Heller received his MFA in fiction and poetry from the Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop. He has written several novels, contributed to NPR, Outside Magazine, Men’s Journal and National Geographic Adventure. He is an avid outdoorsman and has kayaked around the world. His outdoor adventures provide the basis for much of his writing. “In the winter of 2002 he joined, on the ground team, the most ambitious whitewater expedition in history as it made its way through the treacherous Tsangpo Gorge in Eastern Tibet. He chronicled what has been called The Last Great Adventure Prize for Outside, and in his book Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet’s Tsangpo River”. In another escapade he joined an eco-pirate ship on a trip to Antarctica to stop whale hunting. He recounts this adventure in The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet’s Largest Mammals.
The River is Peter Heller’s fourth novel. His earlier works include The Dog Stars, The Painter, and Celine. Since publishing The River in 2019 he has also released The Orchard and The Guide. He is also the author of three nonfiction books: Hell or High Water, The Whale Warrior, and Kook.