Brian Payton (born 1966) is an American writer of fiction and nonfiction.
Born in
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
in 1966, Payton lived in
California,
Illinois,
Texas,
New Mexico, and
Alaska before settling in
British Columbia at the age of 16. He was educated at the
Seminary of Christ the King and the
University of Victoria.
Payton's first novel, ''Hail Mary Corner'' (Beach Holme), is a coming-of-age tale based on his experience living among fellow
seminarians and
Benedictine monks. His nonfiction writing about adventure, wildlife, and the environment has appeared in ''
The New York Times'', the ''
Los Angeles Times'', the ''
Chicago Tribune'', ''
The Boston Globe'', ''
Canadian Geographic''.
''Shadow of the Bear: Travels in Vanishing Wilderness'' is a work of narrative nonfiction, which chronicles a personal search for the eight remaining bear species across continents, cultures, and memory.
Payton's book ''The Ice Passage: A True Story of Ambition, Disaster, and Endurance in the Arctic Wilderness'' (Doubleday Canada), is a narrative nonfiction account of the final voyage of HMS ''Investigator''.
His latest book, a novel, ''The Wind is Not a River'' is set in Alaska during the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska. The New York Times, in a review posted on January 31, 2014, called the book "gripping" and "meditative."
Payton lives with his wife in
Vancouver.
Bibliography
Fiction
''Hail Mary Corner'' (2001)
Nonfiction
* ''The Ice Passage: A True Story of Ambition, Disaster, and Endurance in the Arctic Wilderness'' (2009)
* ''Shadow of the Bear: Travels in Vanishing Wilderness'' (2006)
* ''Literary Trips: Following in the Footsteps of Fame, Vol. 2]'' (anthology, 2001)
References
External links
Brian Payton's homepageArticles by Brian Payton in ''The Walrus''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Payton, Brian
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
American nature writers
Writers from California
1966 births
Living people
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American male non-fiction writers