Shann Ray: Where Blackbirds Fly

A novel in five novellas, WHERE BLACKBIRDS FLY offers a prismatic deep dive into the human heart through fierce narratives of intimacy, both lovely and heartbreaking.

Countering social upheavals, Shann Ray affirms the power of empathy, the wisdom of wilderness, and the felt presence of divine mystery echoed in the recurring appearances of blackbirds, as if etching flight patterns of mercy over the landscapes of human life.

Shann Ray is a Czech American author, poet, and American Book Award winner whose work bridges art, psychology, and global reconciliation. Shann currently teaches leadership and forgiveness studies at Gonzaga University and poetry at Stanford. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellow and Fulbright recipient, he’s traveled widely as a visiting scholar, from South Africa to Europe, Asia, and the Americas, often focusing on forgiveness in the wake of atrocity.

His books span poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and political theory—seventeen in total, including American Masculine, Balefire, Blood Fire Vapor Smoke, American Copper, and Forgiveness and Power in the Age of Atrocity. Critics such as Sherman Alexie, Dave Eggers, and Debra Magpie Earling have praised his work for its lyricism, depth, and hope. His writing has appeared in Poetry, Esquire, McSweeney’s, Narrative, and Prairie Schooner.

A former professional basketball player in Germany’s Bundesliga, Shann also holds advanced degrees in psychology and creative writing. Beyond literature, he has collaborated with artists like Makoto Fujimura on projects linking beauty and peace, and served as a mentor in PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writers Program.

At the heart of his work lies a compelling inquiry: how do art, forgiveness, and human connection help us move from fracture toward reconciliation?