John Edward Lawson was born in Washington, DC and currently divides his time between Bowie, Maryland and Broadkill Beach, Delaware. Over 500 stories, poems, and articles have been published worldwide. While he has been called “The forgotten black man of horror” he also regularly publishes science fiction, bizarro, thrillers, erotica, and literary fiction.

His novels include Last Burn in Hell and New Mosque City, while his fiction collections include Paramourn: Unfortunate Romances (Wonderland Award honorable mention), Devil Entendre, Truth in Ruins, Lawson vs. LaValley, Discouraging at Best (Wonderland Award finalist), and Pocket Full of Loose Razorblades (containing the Pushcart Prize nominated “Expectations of the Needy”).

The poetry collection Bibliophobia will be published in 2022; other poetry collections include Wholesome Terror: Lawfully Combative Verse, SuiPsalms (Elgin Award nominee), The Troublesome Amputee (Stoker Award finalist, double Dwarf Stars Award nominations, double Rhysling Award nominations), The Plague Factory, The Horrible, and The Scars Are Complimentary.

Anthologies John edited are Of Flesh and Hunger, Sick: An Anthology of Illness, and Tempting Disaster.

Short film adaptations of his poems include Why the Big Cat’s Eyes Are So Pretty, Where the Heart Isn’t, and Raw Dog Screaming. He worked on the award-winning short films Uberman: An Experiment in Consciousness and Party Girl as producer.

As co-founder of Raw Dog Screaming Press with Jennifer C. Barnes, John received the 2018 HWA Specialty Press Award. He is the former editor-in-chief of The Dream People and currently serves as vice president of Diverse Writers and Artists of Speculative Fiction.

When he isn’t on the road as a guest at or planner of conventions, such as this year’s StokerCon and WorldCon, John is busy hosting virtual conferences for AllAccessCon, or teaching workshops at places like Broadkill Writers Resort, Clarion West, and Speculative Fiction Academy.

He graduated from Omega Studios School of Applied Recording Arts and Sciences certified in audio production techniques for advertising, as well as music business and artist management. While he no longer owns Rack & Ruin Studio he is still an active musician, crafting lyrics and music for the horror soundtrack-inspired Rage Inducer. The Rage Inducer project has spawned nine singles and EPs, with a full-length album being released in April, 2022.

Learn more about Raw Dog Screaming Press at https://rawdogscreaming.com/.