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Rivers Solomon

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Rivers Solomon
Solomon in a 2025 interview
Born1989 (age 36–37)[1]
California, U.S.
EducationStanford University (BA)
University of Texas at Austin (MFA)
OccupationWriter
Writing career
Genres
Notable workThe Deep
Notable awards
Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (2020)

Otherwise Award (2021)

Websiterivers-solomon.com Edit this at Wikidata

Rivers Solomon (born 1989)[1] is an American author of speculative fiction and literary fiction. They received the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses' Firecracker Award in Fiction in 2018 for their debut novel, An Unkindness of Ghosts.[2] Their second novel, The Deep, won the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.[3] Their third novel, Sorrowland, won the 2021 Otherwise Award.[4]

Early life and education

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Solomon grew up in California, Indiana, Texas, and New York. They received a bachelor's degree in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity from Stanford University. They later received a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin.[1]

Career

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Solomon's debut novel, An Unkindness of Ghosts, was published in 2017 by Akashic Books. The book is a science fiction novel exploring the conjunction between structural racism and generation ships. It was name one of the best books of 2017 by The Guardian,[5] NPR,[6] Publishers Weekly,[7] Library Journal,[8] and Bustle.[9] It was also named a Stonewall Honor Book.[10] The novel received the 2018 Firecracker Award.[2]

An Unkindness of Ghosts was a finalist for the Locus Award for Best First Novel,[11] Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror,[12] James Tiptree Jr. Award,[13] and Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.[14]

In 2018 and 2019, Solomon was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.[15][16]

Amal El-Mohtar at NPR writes of An Unkindness of Ghosts: "[T]he more I read the bigger I felt, falling down a rabbit-hole of sky and wanting only to go deeper and farther with every page."[17] Gary K. Wolfe at Locus writes: "Solomon’s evocation of this society is so sharply detailed and viscerally realized, the characters so closely observed, the individual scenes so tightly structured, that the novel achieves surprising power and occasional brilliance."[18]

Solomon's second book, The Deep, published by Saga Press in 2019, is based on the song of the same name by the experimental hip-hop group Clipping, and depicts a utopian underwater society built by the water-breathing descendants of pregnant slaves thrown overboard from slave ships. The Deep won the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.[3] It was a finalist for a 2019 Nebula Award, 2020 Locus Award, and 2020 Hugo Award.[19][20][21]

Their third book, Sorrowland, was published by MCD Books in May 2021. The novel is described as "a genre-bending work of gothic fiction that wrestles with the tangled history of racism in America and the marginalization of society’s undesirables."[22] In a review for The Guardian, Hephzidah Anderson writes: "It’s about escape, self-acceptance and queer love. It’s about genocide and the exploitation of black bodies, self-delusion and endemic corruption, motherhood and inheritance."[23] Sorrowland won the 2021 Otherwise Award; it was presented to Solomon during Wiscon 46, at which they were co-Guest of Honor with Martha Wells, in May of 2023.[24]

Sorrowland was a finalist for the 2021 Ray Bradbury Prize given by the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.[25]

In October 2024, Solomon's fourth book, Model Home, was published by MCD Books. It was a finalist for the 2025 Locus Award for Best Horror Novel.[26] Lisa Tuttle for The Guardian describes the novel as "a disturbing, brilliantly twisty psychological horror exploring family dynamics, memory, gender identity and sexuality".[27] Gabino Iglesias for Locus writes: "Stunningly written and full of the kind of trauma that can only come from family, this novel takes the haunted house trope and turns it into something that feels entirely new, very fresh, and packing an emotional punch that lingers way after you turn the last page."[28]

Solomon's shorter work has been featured in Black Warrior Review,[29] The New York Times,[30] Guernica,[31] The Best American Short Stories,[32] Tor.com,[33] The Paris Review,[34] and elsewhere. They collaborated with authors Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, and S. L. Huang on the serial novel The Vela.[35]

Influences

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Their literary influences include Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia E. Butler, Alice Walker, Zora Neale Hurston, Ray Bradbury, Jean Toomer, and Doris Lessing.[36][37]

Personal life

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Solomon is non-binary and intersex.[38] They use fae/faer and they/them pronouns.[a][36][39]

Solomon describes themself as "a dyke, an anarchist, a she-beast, an exile, a shiv, a wreck, and a refugee of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade".[36] They have ADHD[40] and are autistic.[41] Solomon is Jewish.[42]

As of 2019, Solomon lives in Cambridge, England, with their family.[1]

Publications

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Novels and novellas

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Short stories

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  • "Blood Is Another Word for Hunger" (2019, Tor.com)
  • "St. Juju" (2019, The Verge)
  • "Prudent Girls" in The Decameron Project: 29 New Stories from the Pandemic Selected by the Editors of The New York Times Magazine (2020, Simon & Schuster)
  • "A Brief Note on the Translation of Winter Women, Written by the Collective Dead, Translated by Amal Ruth" in Small Odysseys: Selected Shorts Presents 35 New Stories (2022, Algonquin) (edited by Hannah Tinti)

Notes

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  1. ↑ This article uses they/them for consistency.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Segal, Stephen H. (December 16, 2019). "Rivers Solomon: Into the Deep". Locus Online. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Firecracker Awards Winners Archive". Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Vanderhoof, Erin (June 1, 2020). "EXCLUSIVE: The Winners of the 32nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  4. ↑ "2021 Otherwise Award Winners". Locus. January 19, 2023. Archived from the original on May 28, 2026. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  5. ↑ Roberts, Adam (November 30, 2017). "The best science fiction and fantasy of 2017". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Best Books of 2017". NPR. 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Best Books 2017 - SF/Fantasy/Horror". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Best Books 2017 | Best Genre Fiction | SF/Fantasy". Library Journal. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  9. ↑ Ragsdale, Melissa (December 4, 2017). "The 17 Best Fiction Books Of 2017". Bustle. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Stonewall Book Awards List". Rainbow Roundtable. American Library Association. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  11. ↑ "2018 Locus Awards Finalists". Locus Online. April 30, 2018. Archived from the original on February 19, 2026. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  12. ↑ Boureau, Ella (March 6, 2018). "30th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced". Lambda Literary. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  13. ↑ Murphy, Pat (March 14, 2018). "Virginia Bergin Wins 2017 Tiptree Award! Honor List and Long List Announced". Otherwise Award. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  14. ↑ "The Zora/ Legacy Awards". Hurston/Wright Foundation. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  15. ↑ "2018 Hugo and Campbell Awards Winners". Locus. August 19, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2026.
  16. ↑ "2019 Hugo and Campbell Awards Winners". Locus. August 18, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2026.
  17. ↑ El-Mohtar, Amal (October 6, 2017). "'Unkindness Of Ghosts' Transposes The Plantation's Cruelty To The Stars". NPR. Archived from the original on February 18, 2019.
  18. ↑ Wolfe, Gary K. (January 28, 2018). "Gary K. Wolfe Reviews An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon". Locus.
  19. ↑ "2020 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. April 7, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Rivers Solomon". The Nebula Awards®. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  21. ↑ "World Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus Online. November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Announcing Sorrowland, a New Work of Gothic Fiction from Rivers Solomon". Tor.com. October 3, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  23. ↑ Anderson, Hephzibah (May 18, 2021). "Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon review – an electrifying gothic techno-thriller". The Guardian. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  24. ↑ "WisCon 46". Locus. July 7, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Winners Announced". Los Angeles Times. April 23, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  26. ↑ "2025 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists". Locus Online. May 2, 2025. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  27. ↑ Tuttle, Lisa (February 7, 2025). "The best science fiction, fantasy and horror – reviews roundup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  28. ↑ Iglesias, Gabino (January 21, 2025). "Model Home by Rivers Solomon: Review". Locus. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  29. ↑ Haas, Katy (July 23, 2018). "Black Warrior Review - Spring/Summer 2018". New Pages. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  30. ↑ Solomon, Rivers (July 7, 2020). "Rivers Solomon: 'Prudent Girls,' a Short Story". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Rivers Solomon". Guernica. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  32. ↑ Gay, Roxane; Pitlor, Heidi, eds. (2018). The Best American Short Stories 2018. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-544-58288-0.
  33. ↑ "Rivers Solomon Titles". sfadb. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  34. ↑ "Rivers Solomon". The Paris Review. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  35. ↑ "The Vela: The Complete Season 1". Publishers Weekly. February 13, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  36. 1 2 3 "'Write what terrifies you': 21 Questions with Rivers Solomon". Penguin Books UK. May 4, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  37. ↑ "Rivers Solomon". Book Series in Order. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  38. ↑ "'The Deep' author Rivers Solomon shares 5 book picks for Pride Month". Good Morning America. June 21, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  39. ↑ Leopardas, Trisha F. (July 18, 2026). "11 Powerful Queer, Disabled Authors Breaking Down Barriers". Bookstr. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
  40. ↑ Solomon, Rivers [@cyborgyndroid] (June 23, 2020). "My ADHD is part of my personality & I don't need to talk about it in medicalised terms to understand it as it relates to capitalism. Also, pls know that it's a common thing for white ppl to be superior about the language ppl use to discuss disability and it's colonialist af" (Tweet). Retrieved February 9, 2023 – via Twitter.
  41. ↑ Solomon, Rivers [@cyborgyndroid] (June 18, 2020). "I'm autistic" (Tweet). Retrieved February 9, 2023 – via Twitter.
  42. ↑ Fliss, Jennifer (July 24, 2023). "9 Books About Identity and Gender by Jewish Women and Nonbinary Writers". Electric Literature.
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