Shann Ray

Shann Ray is the author of the poetry collections Transparent in the Backlight (2022), Atomic Theory 7 (2020), Sweetclover (2019), and Balefire (2014). He is also the author of the short story collections Blood Fire Vapor Smoke (2019) and American Masculine (2011), the novels Where Blackbirds Fly (2025) and American Copper (2016), the libretto The Garment of Praise, and a book of political theory, Forgiveness and Power in the Age of Atrocity (2011). Ray’s work has been featured in Esquire, McSweeney’s, and more.

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 received many awards, including the American Book Award, the High Plains International 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 in Spokane, Washington, and teaches leadership and forgiveness studies at Gonzaga University.