Ayize Jama-Everett

Ayize Jama-Everett is an African-American science fiction and speculative fiction writer. He holds a Master’s in Divinity, a Master’s in Clinical Psychology, and a Master’s in Fine Arts, Creative Writing. He has worked as a bartender, a translator, a drug and alcohol counselor, a stand-up comedian, a script doctor, a ghostwriter, a high school dean, a college professor, and for a brief time, a distiller of spirits.

His work has been written of favorably in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and received starred reviews in Kirkus. His books defy easy categorization but hold to what Jama-Everett considers the “veracity of fiction’s ability to expose the human condition.” In his novels, the reader will find science fiction, romance, action, spirituality, and philosophical questions with uncomfortable answers. And to his great delight, Leilani Clark of KQED had the following to say about him: “Like Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia Butler before him, Jama-Everett has a knack for braiding issues of spirituality and race throughout a compelling fantasy landscape.”