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Michael Koryta - dean's introduction

This year’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award winner is a “mystery man.”

From his early days growing up here in Bloomington, Michael Koryta was fascinated with mysteries -- both real and fictional. He spent much of his childhood enraptured by his father’s film noir collection, learning sleuthing from the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell, and Edmund O’Brien. He also ate up detective fiction of all kinds, from the classics by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, to works by latter-day writers such as Dennis Lehane and Robert Craise. But just dreaming about the lives of private eyes wasn’t enough for Michael, so in high school he designed his own independent study project in private investigating. That project led to a part-time job as a private eye – a sideline Michael continues to pursue to this day.

Writing, however, was always his passion – so while still in high school Michael began writing for the Bloomington Herald-Times newspaper, covering sports, features, and even a personal column. And it is a tribute to his work ethic that he kept up both his job as a private eye and his newspaper writing after enrolling at Indiana University and taking on a full course load as a Criminal Justice and Political Science major.

While many college students may be pleased to graduate with several hundred newspaper articles to their credit, much less a part-time job on the side, Michael was determined to be published before he earned his degree – and he succeeded. By the time he earned his Bachelor of Arts in 2006, Michael was a published author with two novels to his credit—and the winner of literary awards as well. In 2004, his first novel, Tonight I Said Goodbye, was published by St. Martin’s Press, earning acclaim from fellow writers and the public. It won the Private Eye Writers of America’s prize for Best First Private Eye Novel, as well as the Great Lakes Book Award for Best Mystery, and was also nominated for the Mystery Writers of America’s prestigious Edgar Award. The Edgar is the foremost award in the crime writing field; previous nominees in Michael’s category include Janet Evanovich, Patricia Cornwell, and Jonathan Kellerman.

Before Michael graduated from IU, his second novel, Sorrow’s Anthem, earned him honors from Publishers Weekly, the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune. His third novel, A Welcome Grave, followed in 2007, and earned a nomination for a Quill Award. His latest, Envy the Night, came out in August, earning him not only praise from reviewers and his mystery-writer peers, but a three-book deal with Little, Brown Publishers. With Michael’s determination and grit, expect more novels and more success – very soon.

Michael’s favorite time to write, I’m told, is between midnight and 3 a.m., the hours when the world is quiet, interruptions are rare – and when criminals, and their pursuers, are most likely to be afoot. Tonight, we are honored to have taken Michael off the streets and away from his fictional pursuits to speak with us. I’m very proud to introduce the 2008 Outstanding Young Alumni winner… Michael Koryta.