Brett Riley

Brett Alan Riley (born October 26, 1970) is an American writer and college professor.

Brett Riley

Riley was born in Topeka, Kansas, during his father's service in the United States Air Force. His family lived briefly in Austin, Texas, before moving to Crossett, Arkansas. Except for a two-year period spent in Gloster, Mississippi, and a one-year matriculation at Louisiana Tech University, Riley lived in Crossett until the age of twenty-eight. He has since lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 1994, Riley earned a BA in English from the University of Arkansas-Monticello. He completed his MA at the University of Louisiana-Monroe in 1997 and his PhD in Contemporary American Fiction and Film in 2006.

Since 1995, Riley has worked in higher education. He taught at the University of Louisiana-Monroe (1995-1998), Louisiana State University (1998-2004, 2006), Baton Rouge Community College (2004-2006), and the University of Alabama (2006-2012). He currently teaches creative writing, American literature, and composition as a tenured professor at the College of Southern Nevada.

In 2013, Ink Brush Press published Riley's collection of linked short stories, The Subtle Dance of Impulse and Light.[1]

In 2014, his screenplay, Candy's First Kiss, won the New York Screenplay Contest's grand prize in horror/sci-fi; third place overall at the London Film Awards Screenwriting Competition; the Gold Prize in horror at the Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest; and Honorable Mention at the WeScreenplay International Screenwriting Competition. This script also won the Grand Prize in horror at the 2015 Hollywood Screenplay Contest. This screenplay was adapted from his short story entitled "An Element of Blank," first published in The Evansville Review.[2]

Riley's debut novel, Comanche: A Novel, was published by Imbrifex Books in September 2020.[3] and was generally well received.[4][5] A recording of his virtual book launch is online here.

Riley lives in Henderson, Nevada, with his wife and daughter. He has two other children, a son and a daughter, both of whom live in Arkansas. He has one granddaughter.