Shann Ray

Shann Ray is the author of the poetry collections Atomic Theory 7, Sweetclover, and Balefire. He is also the author of the short story collections Blood Fire Vapor Smoke, and American Masculine, the novel American Copper, the libretto The Garment of Praise, and a book of nonfiction Forgiveness and Power in the Age of Atrocity. Ray’s work has been featured in Poetry magazine, Esquire, McSweeney’s, High Desert Journal, Poetry International, Narrative, Prairie Schooner, and Salon.

Ray spent part of his childhood on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in southeast Montana and has served as a scholar of leadership and forgiveness studies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. A former Bread Loaf and NEA fellow, he has won many awards, including the American Book Award, the High Plains Book Award for poetry and fiction, the Western Writers of America Spur Award, and the Foreword Book of the Year Readers' Choice Award.

Ray lives with his wife and daughters in Spokane, Washington, and teaches at Gonzaga University.