Scott Russell Morris is a writer, foodie, photographer, and enthusiast. He's a native of Southern California but can navigate the streets of Utah better. He owns a home in Texas and lives in South Korea, where he is an Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Utah Asia Campus. He's either kinda straight for a queer guy or super queer for a straight man. With his wife, Kirsten, he has two children. He enjoys spicy food and can't say no to ice cream. Scott earned a PhD in English from Texas Tech University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Brigham Young University. No one has ever asked him who watches the children while he is at work. As a teenager, a friend nicknamed him “Skoticus” and that name has ever since been the calling card for his creative persona. He owns more than two hundred board games and collects t-shirts with squirrels on them.
Scott’s first collection of essays, Points of Tangency: Essays and Enthusiasms, explores enthusiasm, travel, and connecting with strangers. Squirrels feature prominently. Points of Tangency was a finalist for the 2018 Gournay Essay Prize and is now looking for a publishing home. To read the titular essay from this project, visit Proximity Magazine.
Scott’s next ongoing project is a fantasy novel series. The series' first installment, The Sovereign of the Cliffs, is a dark fantasy novel about a young woman with magical skin desperately trying to save her family and farm from the machinations of blood-soaked immortals. The novel is fully written and currently looking for an agent and publisher. You may read a sample here.