Author
Rivers Solomon
Associated Country
United States
Rivers Solomon is an American writer of speculative fiction whose work explores themes of identity, race, gender, history, trauma, and belonging. Drawing on elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and literary fiction, Solomon has earned critical acclaim for creating imaginative narratives that examine both personal and collective experiences. They studied at Stanford University and later attended the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin, where they further developed their distinctive literary voice.
Solomon gained widespread recognition with their debut novel, An Unkindness of Ghosts (2017), a science fiction work set aboard a generation ship structured around racial and social hierarchies. The novel was praised for its powerful exploration of oppression, resistance, and identity. They followed this success with The Deep (2019), inspired by the song of the same name by the hip-hop group clipping., and Sorrowland (2021), a genre-blending novel that combines horror, speculative fiction, and social commentary.
Through their fiction, Solomon has become known for centering marginalized voices and challenging conventional genre boundaries. Their work has received numerous award nominations and has been celebrated for its emotional depth, inventive worldbuilding, and thoughtful examination of the ways history, culture, and identity shape human lives. Today, Rivers Solomon is regarded as one of the leading voices in contemporary speculative fiction.
Solomon gained widespread recognition with their debut novel, An Unkindness of Ghosts (2017), a science fiction work set aboard a generation ship structured around racial and social hierarchies. The novel was praised for its powerful exploration of oppression, resistance, and identity. They followed this success with The Deep (2019), inspired by the song of the same name by the hip-hop group clipping., and Sorrowland (2021), a genre-blending novel that combines horror, speculative fiction, and social commentary.
Through their fiction, Solomon has become known for centering marginalized voices and challenging conventional genre boundaries. Their work has received numerous award nominations and has been celebrated for its emotional depth, inventive worldbuilding, and thoughtful examination of the ways history, culture, and identity shape human lives. Today, Rivers Solomon is regarded as one of the leading voices in contemporary speculative fiction.
Books
Model Home 2024
The three Maxwell siblings keep their distance from the lily-white gated enclave outside Dallas where they grew up. When their family moved there, they were the only Black family in the neighborhood....
Sorrowland 2021
Vern—seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised—flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far...
The Deep 2019
Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be...
Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She’s used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she’d be...