About the Poet
Ran Walker is a microfictionist and poet who has resided in the Hampton Roads area since 2008. His writing has garnered wide recognition, earning him the title of National Indie Author of the Year from the Indie Author Project, the Best Fiction eBook Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, the Virginia Indie Author Project Award for Adult Fiction, and top honors in the Blind Corner Afrofuturism Microfiction Contest. His collection Keep It 100 was named one of Sunday Times (South Africa) Best Reads of 2021 by Kojo Baffoe. Additionally, he is a recipient of fellowships from Callaloo Writer's Workshop, Hurston-Wright Summer Writing Workshop, We Need Diverse Books Mentorship Program, and the AWP HBCU Mentorship Program.
An author of over 40 books, Ran holds degrees from Morehouse College, Pace University, and George Washington University Law School, along with certificates from New York University and Fashion Institute of Technology. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. (inducted through Chi Chapter), AWP, PenAmerica, and the Horror Writers Association, and serves on the board of James River Writers in Richmond. He serves as an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at Hampton University.
Region
Hampton Roads
Virginia City or County Affiliation
Hampton
Years of Residence in Virginia
17.5
Current City/State of Residence
Hampton, VA
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Year of Birth
1975
Keywords/Tags
Afrosurrealism, Afrofuturism, African-American culture
Website
Published Works or Performances
Novels:
GloKat and the Art of Timing. WorldSpark Studios, 2022. (Forthcoming Nov. 2022)
A Different Kind of Christmas Story: A Carol in 100-Word Stories. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2022. (Forthcoming November 17, 2022)
Black Marker: A Novel in 100-Word Stories. Black & Square, 2022.
A Burst of Gray: A Novel in 100-Word Stories. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2021.
Il était une fois Morris Jones (LES GRANDS ROMANS edition). Translated by Philippe Loubat-Delranc, Éditions Autrement, 2019.
Daykeeper. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2018, 2019. (Trade Paperback Edition)
-- Biblioboard, LLC, 2019. (Library Hard Cover Edition)
-- ListenUp Audiobooks, 2019. (Audiobook Edition)
White Pages. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2016.
Il était une fois Morris Jones. Translated by Philippe Loubat-Delranc, Éditions Autrement, 2015.
The Race of Races. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2015.
The Keys of My Soul. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2013.
The Last Bluesman. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2012.
30 Love. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2012.
B-Sides and Remixes. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2011.
Novellas:
Deux: A 50 x 50 Micro Novella. Black + Square, LLC, 2025.
A Different Kind of Christmas Story: A Carol in 100-Word Stories. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2022.
Work-In-Progress. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2018.
Reverb: The Adventures of Marz Banx. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2018, 2019.
She Lives in My Lap. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2017.
The Illest. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2014.
Afro Nerd in Love. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2013.
Short Story Collections:
Trevor’s Room: A 100 x 100 Micro Novel. Black + Square, LLC, 2025.
Brown Voodoo Messiah: A Microfiction LP. Black + Square, LLC, 2025.
Fragments of the Afroverse: 100-Word Stories. Black + Square, LLC, 2025.
Gods Among Men. Black and Square, 2024.
Apollo’s Toy Box. Black and Square, 2024.
Four Suits: A Deck of 100-Word Stories. Black and Square, 2024.
Parts of Speech: 100-Word Stories. Black and Square, 2023.
The Library of Afro Curiosities: 100-Word Stories. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2022.
Keep It 100: 100-Word Stories. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2021.
Can I Kick It?: Sneaker Microfiction and Poetry. 45 Alternate Press, LLC 2020.
(Co-written with Van G. Garrett)
The World Is Yours: Microfictions. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2020.
Bees + Things + Flowers: Microfictions. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2020.
The Strange Museum: 50-Word Stories. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2020.
Portable Black Magic: Tales of the Afro Strange. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2019.
Black Hand Side: Stories. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2016.
Bessie, Bop, or Bach: Collected Stories. 45 Alternate Press, LLC, 2015.
Four Floors. Co-written with Sabin Prentis. Cool Empire Press, 2015.
Poetry Collection:
The Seven Wonders of Stevie: Kwansabas. Black + Square, LLC, 2026.
Sneaker Marauders: Poems. Black and Square, 2025. (Co-written with Van G. Garrett)
O’ahu: Prose Poems. Black and Square, 2024.
Most of My Heroes Don’t Appear On No Stamps: Kwansabas. The University of Hell Press, 2019.
Nonfiction:
One Hundred Ways: A Handbook for Writing 100-Word Stories. Black and Square, 2025.
The Golden Book: A 50-Year Marriage in 50-Word Stories. 45 Alternate Press, 2020.
Stories in Anthologies/Journals:
“Chewing.” 50-Word Stories, October 22, 2025.
“Killing Me Softly.” 50-Word Stories, September 24, 2025.
“Writing About Love.” 50-Word Stories, August 21, 2025.
“Mason Dixon.” Introduction to Afrofuturism: A Mixtape in Black Literature & Art,
edited by DuEwa M. Frazier, Routledge, 2024.
“The Multiverse of a Heart.” Introduction to Afrofuturism: A Mixtape in Black Literature
& Art, edited by DuEwa M. Frazier, Routledge, 2024.
“A Soulful Meditation.” Introduction to Afrofuturism: A Mixtape in Black Literature &
Art, edited by DuEwa M. Frazier, Routledge, 2024.
“Rainbow.” 100-Word Stories: A Short Form For Expansive Writing, edited by Kim
Culbertson and Grant Faulkner, Heinneman, 2024.
“How It Begins.” 50-Word Stories, October 3, 2024.
“Strange Toy.” 50-Word Stories, September 10, 2024.
“Popcorn.” 50-Word Stories, June 11, 2024.
“4 ♥️.” Hampton Renaissance, Spring 2024.
“9 ♥️.” Hampton Renaissance, Spring 2024.
“Q ♠️.” Hampton Renaissance, Spring 2024.
“The Best Magic Trick.” 50-Word Stories, May 3, 2024.
“Ice Cream.” 50-Word Stories, April 16, 2024.
“Jaco.” 50-Word Stories, March 7, 2024.
“Mother's Notebook." 50-Word Stories, February 26, 2024.
“Reunion.” 50-Word Stories, January 6, 2023.
“The Ghost.” 50-Word Stories, November 3, 2022.
“Men in Mourning.” 50-Word Stories, October 4, 2022.
“Dancing By Moonlight.” 50-Word Stories, September 9, 2022.
“Able to Leap Tall Insecurities in a Single Bound.” 50-Word Stories, August 8, 2022.
“Seeds." 50-Word Stories, July 8, 2022.
“The Novelist.” The Drabble, May 23, 2022.
“The Diver.” A Story in 100 Words, May 4, 2022.
“Balloon.” The Hampton Renaissance, Spring II 2022.
“A Pool of Thoughts.” The Centifictionist, Spring 2022.
“A Hair Story.” The Hampton Renaissance, Spring 2022.
“Searching for Water Where It Never Rains.” The Hampton Renaissance, Spring 2022.
“Lonely.” The Hampton Renaissance, Spring 2022.
“Library Dreams.” 50-Word Stories. January 24, 2022.
“400 Licks + One to Grow On.” 2020* The Year of the Asterisk: American Essays, edited
by Greg Gerding, University of Hell Press, 2021.
“Ignominious.” 101 Words. October 13, 2021.
“Junior’s Quick Stop.” The Drabble. October 4, 2021.
“Cold.” A Story in 100 Words. September 22, 2021.
“Tunnel of Love.” West Branch, No. 96, Spring/Summer 2021.
“Absolution.” The Centifictionist, Issue 3, Spring 2021.
“The Comedian.” The Centifictionist, Issue 3, Spring 2021.
“Tears in the Fabric of Us.” The Centifictionist, Issue 3, Spring 2021.
“Euphonic Cacophony.” 50-Word Stories, April 20, 2021.
“Dumas.” The Dribble Drabble Review, Spring 2021.
“The Bibliophile.” 50-Word Stories, January 23, 2021
“Grandma’s Photograph.” Down in the Dirt Magazine, January 2021.
“All White Male Authors Look Alike.” 100 Word Story, December 27, 2020.
“Fear.” The Centifictionist, Issue 2, Fall 2020.
“Apocalyptic Ambivalence.” Free Flash Fiction, October 24, 2020.
“Drowning.” 50-Word Stories, September 11, 2020.
“Death and the Tsunami.” The Drabble, September 1, 2020.
“Beaufort.” 50-Word Stories, August 6, 2020.
“Colorful.” The Dribble Drabble Review, Fall 2020.
"Cotton Candy Clouds." 50-Word Stories, July 8, 2020.
"Posthumous." Fewer Than 500, July 7, 2020.
“The Libraries.” Friday Flash Fiction, July 3, 2020.
“Protest in the Time of Covid." 50-Word Stories, June 12, 2020.
“Screamin' Sisyphus.” Friday Flash Fiction, May 22, 2020
“The Other Side of Jefferson.” The Drabble, May 21, 2020.
“Three Books.” A Story in 100 Words, May 12, 2020.
“Buckroe.” Microfiction Monday Magazine, 95th Edition, May 2020.
“Numbers.” Centifictionist, Vol.1, Issue 1 (Spring/Summer) 2020.
“Eric's Things, Circa 1985.” Centifictionist, Vol.1, Issue 1 (Spring/Summer) 2020.
“The Gift.” Friday Flash Fiction, February 21, 2020.
“Numbers.” A Story in 100 Words, February 20, 2020.
“Infinity.” 50-Word Stories, February 10, 2020.
“Ode to an Olivetti.” 50-Word Stories, January 6, 2020.
“The Motive.” 50-Word Stories, December 16, 2019.
“Dancing in the Light.” 50-Word Stories, November 14, 2019.
“The Story They Would One Day Tell Their Children.” 50-Word Stories, October 15, 2019.
“An Occurrence at Osceola Avenue.” Hunger: The Best of Brilliant Flash Fiction and Beyond, 2014-2019, edited by Dawn Lowe and Ed Higgins, Brilliant Flash Fiction, 2019.
“An Epilogue.” 50-Word Stories, September 12, 2019. “How to Train a Beast.” 50-Word Stories, August 21, 2019.
"He's Coming." 50-Word Stories, July 11, 2019.
“Until the End of Time.” 50-Word Stories, June 10, 2019.
“Purple.” 50-Word Stories, May 8, 2019.
“Hitchhikers.” Speculative 66, Issue 20, April 6, 2019.
“A Closed Lid.” The Big Windows Review, March 29, 2019.
“Behind His Back.” 50-Word Stories, March 13, 2019.
“More Robot, Please.” Blink-Ink, Issue 35, March 2019.
“Cargo.” The Drabble, February 11, 2019.
“Hickory.” 50-Word Stories, February 6, 2019.
“Hunting Nightmares.” 50-Word Stories, January 4, 2019. (Selected as 50-Word Stories’ Story of the Week and Story of the Month)
“To Repel Ghosts.” Okay Donkey, December 7, 2018.
“The Smile.” 50-Word Stories, December 7, 2018.
“Talons.” X-R-A-Y Literary Magazine, October 31, 2018.
“Walls.” Ellipsis Zine, October 31, 2018.
“The Girl Who Lived On Thursday.” Friday Flash Fiction, October 10, 2018.
“Talons.” Poppy Road Review, September 10, 2018.
“The Salvatore Grant.” Literally Stories, September 6, 2018.
“Instagram Baby.” Ariel Chart, September 2, 2018.
“Butter Me Up.” 50-Word Stories, August 28, 2018.
“The Monster Inside.” Paragraph Planet, July 28, 2018.
“India On a Distant Shore.” Parhelion Literary Magazine, Issue #2, July 2018.
“Heavy.” Better Than Starbucks, Vol. III No. VII, July 2018.
“The Monster.” 50-Word Stories, May 25, 2018.
“The Film Club.” The Writers Guild of Virginia Anthology Issue 1, 2016.
“An Occurrence at Osceola Avenue.” Brilliant Flash Fiction Sep. 2016.
“Heavy.” Brilliant Flash Fiction Sep. 2016.
“Black Hand Side.” Literary Orphans Literary Journal Spring 2015.
“Simple Mathematics.” Procyon Short Story Anthology 2014. Tayen Lane Publishing, 2014.
“The Voyeur.” Mothership: Tales of Afrofuturism, edited Bill Campbell, Rosarium Publishing, 2013.
“On the Eve of Tomorrow.” Busy Bodies: Chocolate Flava 4, edited by Zane, Atria, 2013.
“Jessica and the Mattress.” Seek It: Writers and Artists Do Sleep, edited by Kim Aubrey,
Red Claw Press, 2012.
“The Voyeur.” Frightmares: A Fistful of Flash Fiction Horror, edited by Stan Swanson,
Dark Moon Books, 2011.
“A Portrait of Venus.” Lyrotica, edited by Rebecca Ammon, Vagabondage Press, 2011.
“Discovering Charles Buckner.” The Saracen Literary Journal. Hampton University, Spring 2010.
“Dancing in My Dreams.” Spaces Between Us: Poetry, Prose and Art on HIV/AIDS, edited by Kelly Norman Ellis, Third World Press, 2010.
“Fondling My Muse.” Succulent: Chocolate Flava II, edited by Zane, Atria, 2008.
“To Get Bread and Butter.” Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III, edited by Brandon
Massey, Kensington, 2007.
Poems:
“Legions: A Kwansaba.” Included in Black Lives Have Always Mattered anthology (2Leaf Press, 2017).
“The Clown.” Included in the “Carpe Noctem: Seize the Night” art exhibit at Charles H. Taylor Museum (August 2015).
“The Chrysalides.” Included in the “Carpe Noctem: Seize the Night” art exhibit at Charles H. Taylor Museum (August 2015).
“Those Eyes.” Included in the “Carpe Noctem: Seize the Night” art exhibit at Charles H. Taylor Museum (August 2015).
“Remembering Basquiat.” Phati’tude Literary Journal, Winter 2012.
“The Lost Boys of South Bronx.” Phati’tude Literary Journal, Winter 2012.
“Those Feet: A Kwansaba” from Say It Loud!: An Anthology Honoring James Brown,
(Whirlwind Press 2011).
“The Ghosts of Natchez: A Kwansaba for Richard Wright” from DrumVoices Revue: Commemorative Richard Wright Edition, 2008.
"Two Hours 'Til the Bell." Aphros, Volume 38, 1998.
Articles/Essays/Q&A’s:
“Bringing Your Language Alive.” Writer’s Digest (March/April 2025)
“The Shortest Distance Between Two Points." Writer's Digest (Jan./Feb. 2025)
“You, Yes, You.” Writer’s Digest (Nov./Dec. 2024)
“A Funny Thing Happened When I Fell From the Sky.” Writer's Digest (July/Aug. 2024)
“What's My Motivation.” Writer's Digest (March/April 2024).
“This Changes Everything.” Writer's Digest (Jan./Feb. 2024)
“First Things First: How to Make the Most of First Lines in Microfiction.” Writer’s
Digest (Jan./Feb. 2024)
“Short Punchlines: Writing Humorous Microfiction.” Writer's Digest (Nov./Dec. 2023)
"5 Steps to Approach Writing Your Story's Inciting Incident.” Writer's Digest (July
August 2023)
“Breathing Life Into Dead Stories.” Writer's Digest (March/April 2023)
“Making It Past the First Round.” Writer's Digest (Jan./Feb. 2023)
“5 Unconventional Approaches to Winning NaNoWriMo. Writer's Digest (Nov./Dec.
2022)
“Writing Bite-Size Horror.” Writer’s Digest Sept./Oct. 2022.
“Back to Basics.” Writer’s Digester May/June 2022.
“Beyond the Twilight Zone: Diversity in the Strange.” Writer’s Digest Nov/Dec 2021.
“10 Reasons to Write 100-Word Stories.” Writer’s Digest Sep/Oct 2021.
“4 Tips for Writing Short Stories.” IngramSpark Blog, May 14, 2020.
“Tips of the Trade: The Dribble Solution.” James River Writers, March 2020.
“#TPQ: Ran Walker.” The Poetry Question, July 31, 2019.
“The Power of Poetry.” The Poetry Question, April 16, 2019.
Selected Individual Poems or Performances
Attached
Ran Walker