Biography: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Walt Curtis (born July 4, 1941) is a poet, novelist and painter from Portland, Oregon. He is mainly known for his autobiographical work, Mala Noche (1977), which became the basis for Gus Van Sant's 1985 film of the same name. Curtis has shared the bill with many Beat Generation writers, such as Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Ken Kesey. Description above from the Wikipedia article Walt Curtis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia