Bio


Poet and prose writer SHANN RAY teaches leadership and forgiveness studies at Gonzaga University, poetry at Stanford, and poetry at Princeton Theological Seminary for the Center for Contemplative Leadership. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, through his research in forgiveness and genocide he has served as a visiting scholar in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and as a poetry mentor for the PEN America Prison and Justice Writers Program. Having collaborated with painter Makoto Fujimura on a United Nations grant entitled Intercultural Dialogues through Beauty as a Language of Peace, Ray’s work has also received the American Book Award in recognition of outstanding achievement in the context of America’s diverse literary community. Bread Loaf Fellow, three-time High Plains Book Award winner, Bakeless Prize winner, and winner of the Foreword Book of the Year Readers’ Choice Award, he is the author of a libretto and 15 books, of which 10 are fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction including Atomic Theory 7, The Garment of Praise, Forgiveness and Power in the Age of Atrocity, Balefire, American Masculine, Sweetclover, Blood Fire Vapor Smoke, American Copper, The Souls of Others, and Transparent in the Backlight. His work has been featured in Poetry, Esquire, Narrative, McSweeney’s, Prairie Schooner, Poetry International, Big Sky Journal, the American Journal of Poetry, and Salon.

Academic Appointments


  • Casual - Other Teaching Staff, Continuing Studies and Summer Session

Honors & Awards


  • American Book Award; High Plains Book Award, Poetry; High Plains Book Award, Short Story, Awards (2010, 2020)