Neil George Ayres is an English short fiction writer, born in east

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1979. He grew up in Tower Hamlets,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

and Spain. His fiction includes the literary novel, ''Nicolo's Gifts'', and short speculative fiction published in many international small and independent press publications, including ''

Apex Digest ''Apex Magazine'', also previously known as ''Apex Digest'', is an American horror and science fiction magazine. This subscription webzine, ''Apex Magazine'', contains short fiction, reviews, and interviews. It has been nominated for several awa ...

'', ''Electric Velocipede'' (his story "Sundew" received an honorable mention in the ''

Year's Best Fantasy and Horror ''Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' was a reprint anthology published annually by St. Martin's Press from 1987 to 2008. In addition to the short stories, supplemented by a list of honorable mentions, each edition included a number of retrospective ...

'' 2004), ''Trunk Stories'' and online at Infinity Plus, Cabinet des Fees,

The Future Fire ''The Future Fire'' is a small press, online science fiction magazine (), run by a joint British- US team of editors. The magazine was launched in January 2005 and releases issues four times a year, with stories, articles, and reviews in both HTM ...

and Simulacrum. His non-fiction has appeared in '' Aesthetica magazine'' and on LauraHird.com. Neil has worked for '' Battersea Dogs' Home'', ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' and ''

Design Week ''Design Week'' is a UK-based website, formerly a magazine for the design industry. It was first published in October 1986 by Centaur Communications. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations primary circulation for 2007 was 8,074. In 2011 ...

''. He lives in Surrey with his partner and their dog. In 2005 he project managed and helped launch Book of Voices: a short story anthology for

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

PEN, for Flame Books. The collection included stories by award-winning authors such as

Patrick Neate Patrick Neate (born 1970) is a British novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and podcaster. Early life Born and raised as a Roman Catholic in South London, he was educated at St. Paul's School and Cambridge University. He spent a gap year i ...

Gregory Norminton Gregory Norminton is a novelist born in Berkshire, England, in 1976. Educated at Wellington College, he read English at Regent's Park College, Oxford and studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He is a Senior Lecturer ...

Tanith Lee Tanith Lee (19 September 1947 – 24 May 2015) was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime ...

, and

Jeffrey Ford Jeffrey Ford (born November 8, 1955) is an American writer in the fantastic genre tradition, although his works have spanned genres including fantasy, science fiction and mystery. His work is characterized by a sweeping imaginative power, humo ...

. (Ford's story was reprinted by

Ellen Datlow Ellen Datlow (born December 31, 1949) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist. She is a winner of the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award (Horror Writers Association). Career Datlow began her career ...

in The

2005. Ayres' story What's in the Box, Fox? received an honorable mention from

Kelly Link Kelly Link (born July 19, 1969) is an American editor and author of short stories. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of sci ...

and Gavin J Grant.) His story, Twenty-One Again, was included in The Elastic Book of Numbers, which won the

British Fantasy Society The British Fantasy Society (BFS) was founded in 1971 as the British Weird Fantasy Society, an offshoot of the British Science Fiction Association. The society is dedicated to promoting the best in the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. ...

award for best anthology. The same year he also edited The Minotaur in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

for D-Press, two chapbooks including work by

Lavie Tidhar Lavie Tidhar ( he, לביא תדהר; born 16 November 1976) is an Israeli-born writer, working across multiple genres. He has lived in the United Kingdom and South Africa for long periods of time, as well as Laos and Vanuatu. As of 2013, Ti ...

Rhys Hughes Rhys Henry Hughes (born 1966, Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh fantasy writer and essayist. Career Born in Cardiff, Hughes has written in a variety of forms, from short stories to novels. His long novel ''Engelbrecht Again!'' is a sequel to Mauric ...

Brian Aldiss Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for o ...

and Catherynne M Valente. Steve Redwood's story,

Circe Circe (; grc, , ) is an enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and religion. She is either a daughter of the Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse or the goddess Hecate and Aeëtes. Circe was renowned for her vas ...

's Choice also received an honorable mention. In summer 2007 his novelette, Skipping Stones, written with E. Sedia, is to be published as the follow-up to

Hal Duncan Hal Duncan (born 21 October 1971, real name Alasdair) is a Scottish science fiction and fantasy writer. His works have been listed in the New Weird genre, but he prefers not to ascribe his writings to any genre. Life Hal Duncan was born in Ki ...

's premiere chapbook from Jessup Publishing. Neil maintains a blog with Cambridge-based writer and

Macmillan New Writing Macmillan New Writing is an imprint of the British publishing company Pan Macmillan. Designed to attract previously unpublished authors, it offers aspiring novelists 20% of royalties from the sale of their book but no advance on signing. Books Mac ...

author Aliya Whiteley.

External links

Author's blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayres, Neil 1979 births English science fiction writers Living people