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

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1979. He grew up in Tower Hamlets,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and Spain. His fiction includes the literary novel, ''Nicolo's Gifts'', and short

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

published in many international small and independent press publications, including '' Apex Digest'', ''Electric Velocipede'' (his story "Sundew" received an honorable mention in the ''

Year's Best Fantasy and Horror ''The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' was a reprint anthology published annually by St. Martin's Press from 1988 to 2007. In addition to the short stories, supplemented by a list of honorable mentions, each edition included a number of retrospect ...

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

The Future Fire ''The Future Fire'' is a small-press, Online magazine, online science fiction magazine (), run by a joint United Kingdom, British–United States, US team of editors. The magazine was launched in January 2005 and releases issues four times a yea ...

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

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'', ''

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

'', ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' and ''

Design Week ''Design Week'' is a UK-based website, and formerly a weekly 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 ...

''. He lives in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

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 to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

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 (born 1976) is an English novelist. Born in Berkshire and 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 Le ...

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 Fantastique, fantastic genre tradition, although his works have spanned genres including fantasy, science fiction and mystery. His work is characterized by a sweeping imaginati ...

. (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 car ...

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 writer. Mainly known as an author of short stories, she published her first novel, ''The Book of Love'' in 2024. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many ...

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 Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

for D-Press, two chapbooks including work by

Lavie Tidhar Lavie Tidhar (; 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, Tidhar has lived in London ...

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 Maur ...

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 oc ...

and Catherynne M Valente. Steve Redwood's story,

Circe In Greek mythology, Circe (; ) is an enchantress, sometimes considered a goddess or a nymph. In most accounts, Circe is described as the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perse (mythology), Perse. Circe was renowned for her vast kn ...

'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 Ma ...

author Aliya Whiteley.

External links

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