Shann Ray

Shann Ray grew up in Montana, played college basketball at Montana State University and Pepperdine University and professional basketball in Germany. Among other places, his work has appeared in the Best New Poets and The Better of McSweeney’s anthologies, and been selected as notable in the Best American Nonrequired Reading and Best of the West, and as a finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award. He now lives with his wife and three daughters in Spokane, Washington where he teaches leadership and forgiveness studies at Gonzaga University. American Copper is his debut novel. Ray’s first book, a story collection entitled American Masculine, published by Graywolf as Winner of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Bakeless Prize, was named by Esquire as one of Three Books Every Man Should Read, and selected by Kirkus as a Best Book, Best Short Story Collection, and Editor’s Choice selection. It won an American Book Award, the High Plains Book Award for Best First Book and Best Short Story Collection. The author received an NEA Fellowship in Creative Writing in 2012.