Michael Hornburg
Michael Hornburg (born October 31, 1960) is an American writer and literary agent. He published two novels, Bongwater (1995) and Downers Grove (1999), both of which were made into feature films. He has also written for The Portland Mercury.
Born in Chicago, he grew up on the city’s north side before moving to Downers Grove at age 14. He graduated from Downers Grove South High School in 1978 and then moved to Portland, Oregon to attend Portland State University.
Bongwater, inspired by his Portland experiences and a rumored relationship with Courtney Love, was adapted into a 1998 film starring Luke Wilson, Alicia Witt, Brittany Murphy, and Jack Black. Downers Grove is a coming-of-age horror novel published in 1999 and reissued in 2001; it was adapted into The Curse of Downers Grove (2015), written by Bret Easton Ellis.
In 2015, Hornburg said he was working on a new book loosely connected to Bongwater.
He was married to writer Darcey Steinke, with whom he has a daughter born in 1996. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:07 (CET).