Scholar, novelist, and poet writing at the intersection of nature and language.
Timothy Ryan Day is a Madrid-based writer and professor of Creative Writing at Saint Louis University's campus in Spain. Born in Oklahoma and raised in Chicago after childhood stints in Colorado, Texas, and Georgia, he has taught at universities in the United States, China, France, and Spain, and is a Visiting Scholar at the Rachel Carson Center in Munich (2026).
He is the author of five books: the novels Leaven (2026), Outside Athens (2024), and Big Sky (2020); the poetry collection Green & Grey (2019); and Shakespeare and the Evolution of the Human Umwelt (Routledge, 2021). His fiction, essays, and criticism have appeared in academic, literary, and popular publications on both sides of the Atlantic, and he was a longtime contributor to The Nervous Breakdown and to the Madrid arts magazine Vaya Madrid.
Education
Ph.D. in English Literature, Arizona State University — Early Modern Theater
M.A. in English Literature, Saint Louis University
Máster en Estudios Culturales y Literarios, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
B.A. in English Literature, Northeastern Illinois University
Academic Appointments
Associate Professor, Saint Louis University–Madrid (2020–)
Assistant Professor, Saint Louis University–Madrid (2011–2020)
Visiting Scholar, Rachel Carson Center, Munich (2026)
Visiting Senior Lecturer, American University of Paris (2024)
Teaching Assistant, Arizona State University (2009–2011)
Instructor, Scottsdale Community College (2009–2011)
Instructor, Shantou University, China (2008–2009)
Selected Courses
Deep Narratives: From Microbiomes to AI · Ecocriticism · Introduction to Shakespeare · Alchemists, Cooks & Witches · Milton · Travel Writing · Nature, Ecology & Literature · Food and Literature · Monsters of Europe · Creative Writing: Fiction · Creative Writing: Memoir
Publications
Book in Progress
The Leavening Word: Shakespeare, the Microbiome, and Re-imagining the Artificial
Peer-Reviewed Articles & Chapters
- "Hereafter the Kneading: Shakespeare, Symbiosis, and Yeast." Metacritic Journal In Press
- "Proud Cedars, Mutinous Winds: Coriolanus, the microbiome, and AI." Science and Literature In Press
- "Swallow'd with Yeast and Froth: Shakespeare and Fermentation." Brewery History In Press
- "Everything that Grows: Photosynthesis, AI, and Shakespeare." Cultural Representations of Food. Cambridge Scholars (2025)
- "Immortal Codes: Genetics, Ghosts, and Shakespeare's Sonnets." Interdisciplinary Science Research. Routledge (2023)
- "The Forest for the Trees." Ecozon@ Vol. 13 No. 2 (2022)
- "With Parted Eye." Green Letters Vol. 21 No. 3 (2018)
- Day & Power. "Partiendo el Pan en Shakespeare." Pan. Artesa Ediciones (2016)
Selected Conferences
- "Shakespeare in Sci-Fi: Leavening Text." International Shakespeare Association, Verona (2026)
- "AI, Fermentation, and Immortality: From Paracelsus to Brian Johnson." Co-Sci Lit, Ghent (2026)
- "Grafting Kin: Literary and Literal Rootedness…" ASLE-UKI, Galway (2025)
- "Swallow'd with yeast and froth." British Society of Literature and Science, Lancaster (2025)
- "Trees as Metaphors, Trees as Family." Three Societies on Literature & Science, Birmingham (2024)
- "Apple to Apple and Bard to Bard." University of Bucharest (2023)
- "Proud Cedars, Mutinous Winds." British Society for Literature and Science, Edinburgh (2023)
- "I See a Damaged Planet." TVSERIES 2022, Valencia (2022)
- "Migrations: Butterflies and Shakespeare in Kingsolver's Flight Behavior." MMLA, Chicago (2019)
Awards & Service
Awards
Beaumont Fellowship (2026)
Scholarship Opportunity Fund Grant (2026) — Research travel to Rachel Carson Center, Munich
Research Grant (2025) — Production of Seeds of Fate video game
Student Government Teaching Award (2019, 2021)
Collaborative Inquiry Core Fellow (2023) · Ignite Core Fellow (2021)
Quarterfinalist, American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest (2010)
University Service
Faculty Senate President (2025–) · Faculty Senate VP (2023–2025) · Saint Louis Literary Award Committee (2023–) · Yeast! Conference co-organizer (2025) · Modern? Conference co-organizer (2024)