The author of two books, he taught fiction and literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Chicago, and DePauw University before leaving academia in 2010.

His first novel, Galveston, was published by Scribner's in June, 2010. It was translated and published in France by Editions Belfond, Hong Kong, Germany, and in Italy by Mondadori, as part of their Strade Blu line.

In 2012 he created an original television series called True Detective, which was sold to HBO and completed shooting in June, 2013, with Pizzolatto as executive producer, sole writer and showrunner.

Among other film projects, he's written a remake of The Magnificent Seven for MGM and star Tom Cruise.

The first two short stories he submitted sold simultaneously to the Atlantic Monthly.

His collection of short fiction Between Here and the Yellow Sea was long-listed for the 2006 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and named one of the top five fiction debuts of the year by Poets & Writers Magazine.

Pizzolatto was a finalist for the National Magazine Award for Fiction in 2004. He received an honorable mention from the Pushcart Prize, and his story "Wanted Man" is included in Best American Mystery Stories 2009.

Galveston won third prize in the 2010 Barnes and Noble Discovery Award, and was a finalist for the 2010 Edgar Award for best first novel. It won the 2011 Spur Award for Best First Novel from the Western Writers of America.

In France, Galveston was awarded the Prix du Premier Roman étranger (Best Foreign First Novel) by the French Academy.

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