Shann Ray is an author born and raised in Montana, now living in Washington. His work has appeared in Big Sky Journal, Best New Poets, McSweeney's, Northwest Review, and StoryQuarterly, among other venues. Artists who have influenced his aesthetic include A.B. Guthrie, Sandra Alcosser, Louise Erdrich, Nazim Hikmet, Mary Oliver, John Berger, Milan Kundera, Katerina Rudcenkova, Anna Akhmatova, Gabriela Mistral, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Cormac McCarthy, Leo Tolstoy, Richard Hugo, Victor Hugo, J.S. Bach, Miles Davis, Gustav Klimpt, and Auguste Rodin.

Shann Ray studied at the Inland Northwest Center for Writers.
His poetry and prose considers the nature of humanity with regard to violence and forgiveness, physical landscape and landscapes of heart and spirit. His work is published internationally.