About Richard Banks - Author and Playwright

Richard Banks is the pen name of Rick Gustafson, a playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and award-winning short story writer. He served as a UN peacekeeper in Yugoslavia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and trained as a safari guide in Africa. His writing draws on those experiences and his extensive travels. He writes from his home in Texas, which he affectionately calls ‘Base Camp,’ where he regroups between forays into the wider world.

Richard’s stage work has been performed and developed at London’s Bread & Roses Theatre, Questors Theatre, and Actors and Writers London. In 2026, he produced Painting with Water at Bread & Roses for a three-performance run during the Lambeth Fringe. The theatre has also presented an excerpt from Look Left, Look Right. At Questors, his credits include Back Before Dark, produced for The Overnight Plays in 2026, and a staged reading of The Weigh Station in 2024. The latter also received a staged reading at Actors and Writers London that year. Being Ernest reached the second round of the 2025 Austin Film Festival Script Competition. Current projects include the musical Super Skier and new work for the stage.

Richard’s novel The Price of Ash was shortlisted for the 2026 Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Award and was a finalist for the 2025 Faulkner–Wisdom Award and the 2023 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Gold Rush Award. His novella Me & Mickey was runner-up for the 2025 Faulkner–Wisdom Award.

Richard’s short fiction has earned a Zebulon Award from Pikes Peak Writers and first place in the E.M. Koeppel Short Fiction Contest, along with recognition from the Writers–Editors Network and the Denver Women’s Press Club. His work also appears in The Nefarious North Anthology.

Richard’s background acting credits include Yellowstone, Landman, The Madison, Lioness, Frisco King, Discretion, and One in a Million.

Richard’s background acting credits include Yellowstone, Landman, The Madison, Lioness, Frisco King, Discretion, and One in a Million. His favorite part of being on set is watching the setups and the filmmaking process unfold, though occasionally he makes it into a shot.

Richard Banks holds a Master of Liberal Studies in Global Affairs and a Certificate in Creative Writing from the University of Denver. In addition, he has undergraduate degrees from the University of North Dakota, which complement his work as a novelist, playwright, and screenwriter.