BIOGRAPHY
Ray Nayler is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Mountain in the Sea, published in the US by MCDxFSG and in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The Washington Post called Mountain "(a) poignant, mind-expanding debut" and Slate called it "(a) wondrous novel." David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas, said: "I loved this novel’s brain and heart, its hidden traps, sheer propulsion, ingenious world-building and the purity of its commitment to luminous ideas." Positively reviewed in the New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Publisher's Weekly (starred review) and many others, The Mountain in the Sea is a finalist for the LA Times Book Awards' Ray Bradbury Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction.
Born in Quebec and raised in California, Ray Nayler lived and worked abroad for two decades in Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, and Kosovo. A Russian speaker, he has also learned Turkmen, Albanian, Azerbaijani Turkish, and Vietnamese. Ray is a Foreign Service Officer. He previously worked in international educational development, as well as serving in the Peace Corps in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In Vietnam he was Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Ray currently serves as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Beginning in August, 2023, he will take up a residency at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at The Gorge Washington University.
An experienced writer of short stories, poetry, and travelogues, Ray began publishing speculative fiction in 2015 in the pages of Asimov’s with the short story "Mutability" Since then, his critically acclaimed stories have seen print in Clarkesworld, Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Vice (Terraform), and Nightmare, as well as in several Locus Recommended Reading lists and many “Best of the Year” anthologies. His story "Yesterday's Wolf" won the 2022 Clarkesworld Readers' poll. In the same year, his story, "Muallim" won the Asimov's Readers' Award, his story "Father", in French translation, won the Bifrost readers' award, and his novelette "Sarcophagus" was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award. Ray's story "Winter Timeshare” from the January/February 2017 issue of Asimov's was collected by the late Gardner Dozois in The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction.
In addition to his speculative fiction, Ray has published in many genres, from mainstream "literary" fiction to comics. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen, Crimewave, Hardboiled, Cemetery Dance, Deathrealm, Queen's Quarterly, and the Berkeley Fiction Review, among other journals. His opinion pieces have appeared in New Scientist and at LitHub. He is a widely published poet, (sometimes publishing under his full name, Raynald Patrice Desmeules Nayler,) with work in the Atlanta Review, the Beloit Poetry Journal, Weave, Juked, Able Muse, Sentence, and many more.
Ray currently lives in Washington, DC with his wife Anna, their daughter Lydia, and two rescued cats – one Tajik, one American. Ray is represented by Seth Fishman at the Gernert Company.
Ray Nayler is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Mountain in the Sea, published in the US by MCDxFSG and in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The Washington Post called Mountain "(a) poignant, mind-expanding debut" and Slate called it "(a) wondrous novel." David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas, said: "I loved this novel’s brain and heart, its hidden traps, sheer propulsion, ingenious world-building and the purity of its commitment to luminous ideas." Positively reviewed in the New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Publisher's Weekly (starred review) and many others, The Mountain in the Sea is a finalist for the LA Times Book Awards' Ray Bradbury Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction.
Born in Quebec and raised in California, Ray Nayler lived and worked abroad for two decades in Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, and Kosovo. A Russian speaker, he has also learned Turkmen, Albanian, Azerbaijani Turkish, and Vietnamese. Ray is a Foreign Service Officer. He previously worked in international educational development, as well as serving in the Peace Corps in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In Vietnam he was Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Ray currently serves as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Beginning in August, 2023, he will take up a residency at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at The Gorge Washington University.
An experienced writer of short stories, poetry, and travelogues, Ray began publishing speculative fiction in 2015 in the pages of Asimov’s with the short story "Mutability" Since then, his critically acclaimed stories have seen print in Clarkesworld, Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Vice (Terraform), and Nightmare, as well as in several Locus Recommended Reading lists and many “Best of the Year” anthologies. His story "Yesterday's Wolf" won the 2022 Clarkesworld Readers' poll. In the same year, his story, "Muallim" won the Asimov's Readers' Award, his story "Father", in French translation, won the Bifrost readers' award, and his novelette "Sarcophagus" was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award. Ray's story "Winter Timeshare” from the January/February 2017 issue of Asimov's was collected by the late Gardner Dozois in The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction.
In addition to his speculative fiction, Ray has published in many genres, from mainstream "literary" fiction to comics. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen, Crimewave, Hardboiled, Cemetery Dance, Deathrealm, Queen's Quarterly, and the Berkeley Fiction Review, among other journals. His opinion pieces have appeared in New Scientist and at LitHub. He is a widely published poet, (sometimes publishing under his full name, Raynald Patrice Desmeules Nayler,) with work in the Atlanta Review, the Beloit Poetry Journal, Weave, Juked, Able Muse, Sentence, and many more.
Ray currently lives in Washington, DC with his wife Anna, their daughter Lydia, and two rescued cats – one Tajik, one American. Ray is represented by Seth Fishman at the Gernert Company.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"The Telling of a Dream" and "Past the Trains" in Modern Poetry Quarterly Review 2021
"Muallim" in Asimov's November/December 2021
"The Swallows of the Storm" in XB-1 November 2021 (Czech language)
"Scissors" by Anastasia Bookreyeva (as translator) in Samovar October 2021
"Return to the Red Castle" in XB-1 September 2021 (Czech language)
"Father" in The Year's Best Science Fiction, Vol. 2, September 2021
"Father" in The Years Top Robot and AI Stories: Second Annual Collection 2021
"Father" in The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time 2021
"Eyes of the Forest" in The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 6
"Eyes of the Forest" in The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 2021
"After the Matinee" in The Briar Cliff Review 2021
"Yesterday's Wolf" in Clarkesworld September 2021 with audio read by Kate Baker here
"The Ocean Between the Leaves" in Forever Magazine August 2021
"The Telling of a Dream" and "Past the Trains" in Modern Poetry Quarterly Review 2021
"Father" in XB-1 (Czech language) July 2021
"Año Nuevo" in Asimov's May/June 2021
"The Death of Fire Station 10" in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020
"The Ocean Between the Leaves" in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020
"Delinquencies: Five Poems from the Sonnet Sequence Subrevisions" in Poetry Pacific May 2021
"The Ocean Between the Leaves" (reprint) in Lightspeed April 2021
"Sarcophagus" in Clarkesworld April 2021
"The Shadow of His Wings" in Analog March/April 2021
"Terra Rasa" by Anastasia Bookreyeva (as translator) in Clarkesworld, February 2021
"A Rocket for Dimitrios" in Asimov's January/February 2021 (read the prequel, "The Disintegration Loops" here)
"Evrim's Children" in Dark Matter Magazine January 2021
"The Ocean Between The Leaves" in The Year's Best Science Fiction, Volume 5
"Outside of Omaha" in Nightmare September 2020
"Fire in the Bone" in XB-1 (Czech language) September 2020
"The Swallows of the Storm" in Lightspeed July 2020
"Father" in Asimov's July/August 2020
"Eyes of the Forest" in XB-1 (Czech Language) August 2020
"The Ocean Between The Leaves" in The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories June 2020
"Albedo Season" in Clarkesworld May 2020
"Eyes of the Forest" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction May/June 2020
"Return to the Red Castle" in Asimov's March/April 2020
"The Disintegration Loops" in Asimov's November/December 2019
"The Death of Fire Station 10" in Lightspeed October 2019 with an audio version here
"Beyond the High Altar" in Nightmare September 2019 with text and audio
"The Ocean Between the Leaves" (SF novelette) July/August 2019 issue of Asimov's, with an audio version for the Asimov's blog here
"Winter Timeshare" in Forever Magazine #53 June 2019
"Worlds to Live in: Atmosphere" blog for Asimov's
"Winter Timeshare" in The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction Gardner Dozois, ed.
"Fire in the Bone" (SF SS) in Clarkesworld January 2019 with an audio version here.
"Incident at San Juan Bautista" (SF SS) in Asimov's November/December 2018
"Winter Timeshare" in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection ed: Gardner Dozois: July 2018
"Winter Timeshare" in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 ed: Rich Horton (Originally published in Asimov's, January 2017)
"Winter Timeshare" (SF SS) in Asimov's, January / February 2017
"Do Not Forget Me" (SF SS) in Asimov's March 2016
"Mutability" (SF SS) in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, Ed. Rich Horton 2016
Mutability (SF SS, Hungarian translation) in Galaktika 311 February 2016
"Mutability" (SF SS) in Asimov's June 2015
"In the Petrified Forest" in Cobalt December 2020
"The Ocean Between The Leaves" in The Year's Best Science Fiction, Volume 5
"Outside of Omaha" in Nightmare September 2020
"Architecture" (short story) in Queen's Review Fall 2020
"Analog" (poem) in California Quarterly Fall 2020
"Fire in the Bone" in XB-1 (Czech language) September 2020
"The Swallows of the Storm" in Lightspeed July 2020
"Father" in Asimov's July/August 2020
"Eyes of the Forest" in XB-1 (Czech Language) August 2020
"The Ocean Between The Leaves" in The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories June 2020
"Albedo Season" in Clarkesworld May 2020
"Eyes of the Forest" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction May/June 2020
"Return to the Red Castle" in Asimov's March/April 2020
"The Disintegration Loops" in Asimov's November/December 2019
"The Death of Fire Station 10" in Lightspeed October 2019 with an audio version here
"Beyond the High Altar" in Nightmare September 2019 with text and audio
"The Drought Cycle" and "El Niño" in The Potomac Review Issue 65
"If I Were You" in Yemassee
"The Ocean Between the Leaves" (SF novelette) July/August 2019 issue of Asimov's, with an audio version for the Asimov's blog here
"Winter Timeshare" in Forever Magazine #53 June 2019
"Worlds to Live in: Atmosphere" blog for Asimov's
"Winter Timeshare" in The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction Gardner Dozois, ed.
"Fire in the Bone" (SF SS) in Clarkesworld January 2019 with an audio version here.
"Aphrodisias" (poem) in Silk Road Review issue 20.
"Torques / Double Shifts at the KFC" (poetry) in Atlanta Review Fall / Winter 2018
"Incident at San Juan Bautista" (SF SS) in Asimov's November/December 2018
"Winter Timeshare" in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection ed: Gardner Dozois: July 2018
"Winter Timeshare" in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 ed: Rich Horton (Originally published in Asimov's, January 2017)
"A Threnody for Hazan" (SF Novelette) in Asimov's March/April 2018
"A Strange Feeling in a Parking Lot / The Tree" (poem) in Crab Creek Review 2018
"I ran way but some, by choice, remain . . ." (poem) in Potomac Review 2018
"Photo Submitted as Evidence of Relationship" (graphic poem) in Driftwood Press 2017
"Kyzyl-Orda" (poem) in Badlands Literary Journal, January 2017
"Winter Timeshare" (SF SS) in Asimov's, January / February 2017
"August, Ashgabat" (poem) in Mud Season Review Spring 2016
"Do Not Forget Me" (SF SS) in Asimov's March 2016
"Mutability" (SF SS) in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, Ed. Rich Horton 2016
"Beehive, Birdbath, Gas Station Flowers" (poem) in Minetta Review Fall 2015
"The Cigarette Machine" (graphic SS) in Pinball #5 2016
"To the Savages" in Antiphon #12 2016
Mutability (SF SS, Hungarian translation) in Galaktika 311 February 2016
"Mutability" (SF SS) in Asimov's June 2015
Two Suburban Sonnets (poem) in The Collapsar
Suburban Triptych (poem) in Juked Number 11
Letters to Cities in the Fall (prose poem) in Sentence: A Journal of Prose Poetics Issue 10
"Casting" (poem) in Weave Magazine Issue 11
"Confluence," "Varangian," "The Wooden Sword," "My Uncle's Grand Tour," "Wakhan (Narasimha)" (poems) in Elohi Gadugi
Three Suburban Sonnets (poems) in Clapboard House Journal
Three Suburban Sonnets (poems) (Eclectica Magazine April/May 2013)
Streptomyces (poem) (PiF Magazine December 2012)
A Fat Girl in Paris (poem) (PiF Magazine December 2012)
Custer Shoots His Horse (poem) (PiF Magazine November 2012)
Three Suburban Sonnets (poems) (Able Muse Volume 15)
"Old School" (poem) (Beloit Poetry Review, Summer 2013)
"Never have a town named after you" (poem) (Phantom Limb, Summer 2013)
Present in the Past (poem) (Shadow Road Quarterly, Fall 2013)
The Idiot Birds (SS) (nthposition.com) 2009
"Catch" (noir SS) in Crimewave 7: The Last Sunset 2003
"Cutting Wood, Carrying Water" (noir SS) in Crimewave 4: Mood Indigo 2002
"Because I Could Not Stop For Death" (noir SS) in Cemetery Dance #38, 2002
"The Bat House" (noir SS) in Ellery Queen April 2002
American Graveyards (detective novella) TTA Press 2001
"Population Zero"(noir SS) in Blue Murder 20, 2001
"Sleepwalking" (noir SS) in Blue Murder 18, 2001
"Saturday Night Special" (noir SS) in Ellery Queen February 2001
"The Ride" (noir SS) in The Edge: Tales of Suspense #5, 1999
"The Watchman" (SS) in Berkeley Fiction Review 18, 1998
"The Ropes of the Lasso Inn" (horror SS) Deathrealm Winter 1996/1997
"Waiting" (SS) Lines in the Sand 1996
"The Telling of a Dream" and "Past the Trains" in Modern Poetry Quarterly Review 2021
"Muallim" in Asimov's November/December 2021
"The Swallows of the Storm" in XB-1 November 2021 (Czech language)
"Scissors" by Anastasia Bookreyeva (as translator) in Samovar October 2021
"Return to the Red Castle" in XB-1 September 2021 (Czech language)
"Father" in The Year's Best Science Fiction, Vol. 2, September 2021
"Father" in The Years Top Robot and AI Stories: Second Annual Collection 2021
"Father" in The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time 2021
"Eyes of the Forest" in The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 6
"Eyes of the Forest" in The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 2021
"After the Matinee" in The Briar Cliff Review 2021
"Yesterday's Wolf" in Clarkesworld September 2021 with audio read by Kate Baker here
"The Ocean Between the Leaves" in Forever Magazine August 2021
"The Telling of a Dream" and "Past the Trains" in Modern Poetry Quarterly Review 2021
"Father" in XB-1 (Czech language) July 2021
"Año Nuevo" in Asimov's May/June 2021
"The Death of Fire Station 10" in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020
"The Ocean Between the Leaves" in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020
"Delinquencies: Five Poems from the Sonnet Sequence Subrevisions" in Poetry Pacific May 2021
"The Ocean Between the Leaves" (reprint) in Lightspeed April 2021
"Sarcophagus" in Clarkesworld April 2021
"The Shadow of His Wings" in Analog March/April 2021
"Terra Rasa" by Anastasia Bookreyeva (as translator) in Clarkesworld, February 2021
"A Rocket for Dimitrios" in Asimov's January/February 2021 (read the prequel, "The Disintegration Loops" here)
"Evrim's Children" in Dark Matter Magazine January 2021
"The Ocean Between The Leaves" in The Year's Best Science Fiction, Volume 5
"Outside of Omaha" in Nightmare September 2020
"Fire in the Bone" in XB-1 (Czech language) September 2020
"The Swallows of the Storm" in Lightspeed July 2020
"Father" in Asimov's July/August 2020
"Eyes of the Forest" in XB-1 (Czech Language) August 2020
"The Ocean Between The Leaves" in The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories June 2020
"Albedo Season" in Clarkesworld May 2020
"Eyes of the Forest" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction May/June 2020
"Return to the Red Castle" in Asimov's March/April 2020
"The Disintegration Loops" in Asimov's November/December 2019
"The Death of Fire Station 10" in Lightspeed October 2019 with an audio version here
"Beyond the High Altar" in Nightmare September 2019 with text and audio
"The Ocean Between the Leaves" (SF novelette) July/August 2019 issue of Asimov's, with an audio version for the Asimov's blog here
"Winter Timeshare" in Forever Magazine #53 June 2019
"Worlds to Live in: Atmosphere" blog for Asimov's
"Winter Timeshare" in The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction Gardner Dozois, ed.
"Fire in the Bone" (SF SS) in Clarkesworld January 2019 with an audio version here.
"Incident at San Juan Bautista" (SF SS) in Asimov's November/December 2018
"Winter Timeshare" in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection ed: Gardner Dozois: July 2018
"Winter Timeshare" in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 ed: Rich Horton (Originally published in Asimov's, January 2017)
"Winter Timeshare" (SF SS) in Asimov's, January / February 2017
"Do Not Forget Me" (SF SS) in Asimov's March 2016
"Mutability" (SF SS) in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, Ed. Rich Horton 2016
Mutability (SF SS, Hungarian translation) in Galaktika 311 February 2016
"Mutability" (SF SS) in Asimov's June 2015
"In the Petrified Forest" in Cobalt December 2020
"The Ocean Between The Leaves" in The Year's Best Science Fiction, Volume 5
"Outside of Omaha" in Nightmare September 2020
"Architecture" (short story) in Queen's Review Fall 2020
"Analog" (poem) in California Quarterly Fall 2020
"Fire in the Bone" in XB-1 (Czech language) September 2020
"The Swallows of the Storm" in Lightspeed July 2020
"Father" in Asimov's July/August 2020
"Eyes of the Forest" in XB-1 (Czech Language) August 2020
"The Ocean Between The Leaves" in The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories June 2020
"Albedo Season" in Clarkesworld May 2020
"Eyes of the Forest" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction May/June 2020
"Return to the Red Castle" in Asimov's March/April 2020
"The Disintegration Loops" in Asimov's November/December 2019
"The Death of Fire Station 10" in Lightspeed October 2019 with an audio version here
"Beyond the High Altar" in Nightmare September 2019 with text and audio
"The Drought Cycle" and "El Niño" in The Potomac Review Issue 65
"If I Were You" in Yemassee
"The Ocean Between the Leaves" (SF novelette) July/August 2019 issue of Asimov's, with an audio version for the Asimov's blog here
"Winter Timeshare" in Forever Magazine #53 June 2019
"Worlds to Live in: Atmosphere" blog for Asimov's
"Winter Timeshare" in The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction Gardner Dozois, ed.
"Fire in the Bone" (SF SS) in Clarkesworld January 2019 with an audio version here.
"Aphrodisias" (poem) in Silk Road Review issue 20.
"Torques / Double Shifts at the KFC" (poetry) in Atlanta Review Fall / Winter 2018
"Incident at San Juan Bautista" (SF SS) in Asimov's November/December 2018
"Winter Timeshare" in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection ed: Gardner Dozois: July 2018
"Winter Timeshare" in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 ed: Rich Horton (Originally published in Asimov's, January 2017)
"A Threnody for Hazan" (SF Novelette) in Asimov's March/April 2018
"A Strange Feeling in a Parking Lot / The Tree" (poem) in Crab Creek Review 2018
"I ran way but some, by choice, remain . . ." (poem) in Potomac Review 2018
"Photo Submitted as Evidence of Relationship" (graphic poem) in Driftwood Press 2017
"Kyzyl-Orda" (poem) in Badlands Literary Journal, January 2017
"Winter Timeshare" (SF SS) in Asimov's, January / February 2017
"August, Ashgabat" (poem) in Mud Season Review Spring 2016
"Do Not Forget Me" (SF SS) in Asimov's March 2016
"Mutability" (SF SS) in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, Ed. Rich Horton 2016
"Beehive, Birdbath, Gas Station Flowers" (poem) in Minetta Review Fall 2015
"The Cigarette Machine" (graphic SS) in Pinball #5 2016
"To the Savages" in Antiphon #12 2016
Mutability (SF SS, Hungarian translation) in Galaktika 311 February 2016
"Mutability" (SF SS) in Asimov's June 2015
Two Suburban Sonnets (poem) in The Collapsar
Suburban Triptych (poem) in Juked Number 11
Letters to Cities in the Fall (prose poem) in Sentence: A Journal of Prose Poetics Issue 10
"Casting" (poem) in Weave Magazine Issue 11
"Confluence," "Varangian," "The Wooden Sword," "My Uncle's Grand Tour," "Wakhan (Narasimha)" (poems) in Elohi Gadugi
Three Suburban Sonnets (poems) in Clapboard House Journal
Three Suburban Sonnets (poems) (Eclectica Magazine April/May 2013)
Streptomyces (poem) (PiF Magazine December 2012)
A Fat Girl in Paris (poem) (PiF Magazine December 2012)
Custer Shoots His Horse (poem) (PiF Magazine November 2012)
Three Suburban Sonnets (poems) (Able Muse Volume 15)
"Old School" (poem) (Beloit Poetry Review, Summer 2013)
"Never have a town named after you" (poem) (Phantom Limb, Summer 2013)
Present in the Past (poem) (Shadow Road Quarterly, Fall 2013)
The Idiot Birds (SS) (nthposition.com) 2009
"Catch" (noir SS) in Crimewave 7: The Last Sunset 2003
"Cutting Wood, Carrying Water" (noir SS) in Crimewave 4: Mood Indigo 2002
"Because I Could Not Stop For Death" (noir SS) in Cemetery Dance #38, 2002
"The Bat House" (noir SS) in Ellery Queen April 2002
American Graveyards (detective novella) TTA Press 2001
"Population Zero"(noir SS) in Blue Murder 20, 2001
"Sleepwalking" (noir SS) in Blue Murder 18, 2001
"Saturday Night Special" (noir SS) in Ellery Queen February 2001
"The Ride" (noir SS) in The Edge: Tales of Suspense #5, 1999
"The Watchman" (SS) in Berkeley Fiction Review 18, 1998
"The Ropes of the Lasso Inn" (horror SS) Deathrealm Winter 1996/1997
"Waiting" (SS) Lines in the Sand 1996