Russo, Richard (1949– )

US writer. His novels depict the economic and emotional struggles of working-class people in failing towns in the northeastern USA, chronicling daily life using realism and humour. These include Mohawk (1986), The Risk Pool (1988), Nobody's Fool (1993; filmed 1994), Straight Man (1997), and Empire Falls (2001), which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

He was a professor of English and American Literature at Colby College, Maine, before becoming a full-time writer. He also wrote the screenplay for the film Twilight (1988). The Whore's Child (2002) is a collection of short stories.