Michael John Grist is a ruins explorer and novelist who lives in Tokyo, Japan. He is (uh.. I am) the author of the dystopic science fiction novel Jethro’s Fall and the epic fantasy series The Dawn Cycle, as well as a book of ruins photography- Empire of the Setting Sun. None of them are published yet, but I’m working on it.
My short fiction has been published in a number of magazines; most notably in TQR and Dark Energy SF online, in Aoiffe’s Kiss, Shelter of Daylight, and Something Wicked in print. My stories have been reviewed on 5-star literary stories and The Fix. Selected works can be found in the Fiction Library,
When I’m not writing I’m out exploring the modern ruins of Japan, known as haikyo. These include abandoned theme parks, military installations, ruins of the sex industry, and ghost towns. Over a period of 6 years I’ve visited over 70 ruins locations throughout Japan and documented them in the Haikyo Gallery.
I’ve contributed haikyo articles and photography to the guidebook ‘To Japan With Love‘, the online men’s magazine asylum.com, and on the website atlasobscura.com. The print magazine outdoorjapan.com is running a series of feature stories on my ruins explorations in 2010. My photos have been featured on io9.com here and here. I’ve been interviewed about haikyo in the British print magazine Kindred Spirit, the Tokyo print magazine Weekender, and my ruins photographs have been reviewed positively in both the print and online versions of the Guardian. See more in the In the Media section.
I also curate a collection of bizarre, beautiful, and fascinating world ruins in the Ruins Gallery.
I was born in Manchester, England, to an American mother and British father. When I was a kid I spent summer holidays with my family in Kentucky, worked at a summer camp in Massachusetts, and went to high school for two semesters in Indiana, leaving me with a mid-Atlantic accent and bi-cultural interests. Besides my writing and ruins photography I teach English classes and work as an editor.
If you’d like to get in touch for any reason, be it to talk about advertising, make a suggestion for the site, or to offer me a book deal, you can contact me at outofruins@hotmail.com
on Ruin of a Japanese WWII Shipyard on Writing Blog #8 tapestry narratives on Writing Blog #7 the engine of fiction
