I grew up in Salt Lake City and hold an MFA from the University of Arizona. I now live in Sitka, Alaska/Lingít Aaní with my wife – archaeologist Maggie Spivey-Faulkner – our daughter, and fluffy cat Herschel. I serve on the faculty of Outer Coast, an experimental postsecondary institution that teaches under parallel Indigenous-Western ways of knowing.

In 2020, I was awarded the Cécile E. Mactaggart Travel Award for Narrative Writing for my essay “Myth, Rosin, Dust: A Trinity.” My short story “Stumblecookies” won the 2018 League of Utah Writers fiction contest for new writers. In between teaching and writing, I also play traditional Kentucky banjo and fiddle.