Judah Mahay

Judah Mahay is an Alaskan author of science fiction and fantasy known for his experimentation with such stories as "Soul Requisition" about an irate AI demanding a soul written as an email message. He has published various works in such places as Pinky Thinker Press, Harrisburg Magazine, and more. In 2016, he graduated with his MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from Stony Brook Southampton with the author Roger Rosenblatt as his thesis advisor.
In 2009, Mahay received a New York Foundation for Arts Grant issued through the East End Arts Council for acceptance into the artist residency at The Watermill Center founded by theatre director Robert Wilson. In 2013, Mahay was also honored as an "Outstanding Advocate for the Arts" by the Long Island Council for the Arts for his contributions to the artistic community on Long Island.
Outside his literary pursuits, Mahay serves as an Adjunct Lecturer in English at Penn State Harrisburg and Millersville University. Over the summers, Mahay teaches gifted middle school and high school students at Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth.
==Life==
Mahay was born and raised in the tiny village of Talkeetna, Alaska, and graduated from Susitna Valley High School. He attended undergraduate school at Curry College before transferring to Calvin University where he completed his BA.
From a young age, he worked in the family business Mahay's Jet Boat Adventures, where he served as a captain, obtaining his 25-ton US Coast Guard Captain's License at the age of 19. The business was founded by his homesteading parents author Kristine Drumm and entrepreneur Steve Mahay. His father, Stephen Mahay, has numerous distinctions to his name, including being the first person to navigate and survive the whitewaters of Devil's Canyon with a jet boat. Mahay's older brother Israel Mahay has since taken over the family business, along with advocating for environmental preservation and Alaskan tourism.
Mahay currently lives in Harrisburg, PA with his wife Lorien Mahay (the Executive Director of historic Theatre Harrisburg), his two children, and his mother.
==Activism==
In 2010, Mahay established BeYourArt.com, an artist community and resource. The site expanded to include nearly 700 artists, produced 11 video/audio podcasts, co-published 10 articles with North Shoreian Magazine, and organized an annual “Be Your Art Writing Contest,” awarding the winner a custom artist logo. Mahay closed the site in 2011 due to rising costs and to focus more on his writing career.
While living in Sag Harbor, NY during 2012, he served as the Co-Chair for the Community Advisory Committee sending reports and requests to the township of Southampton on behalf of citizens.
==Teaching Career==
Judah Mahay is an Adjunct Lecturer at Penn State Harrisburg and Millersville University. In this role, he teaches various courses in English, focusing on writing and literature. He also teaches summer courses to gifted youth through Center for Talented Youth|Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. He's previously taught at Suffolk County Community College, Stony Brook University, Five Towns College, and St. Joseph's University.
Course Topics: His courses often cover advanced composition, creative writing, and literary analysis. He aims to help students develop their writing voice and critical thinking skills. Some courses he has taught include but are not limited to English Composition, Advanced Composition, On Being Human: Narrative Essay, Creative Writing, Reading Our World: SFF in Translation, and more.
==Writing Career==
Judah Mahay began his literary career with the publication of his story “Lord of the Dome” in New York Twist Magazine in 2008.
Mahay’s works often explore complex themes human belonging and identity through the lens of SFF and experimentation. Some of his notable publications include “The Trees of Evermore” which won first place in the North Shoreian Magazine's Annual Writing Contest and the flash fiction piece "Lord of the Dome" which won the WeMakeYourMovie Contest to be made into a short student film. He has also been involved in various literary projects, such as the Watermill Grimoire, which was supported by a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and he served as judge for storySouth's Million Writers Award.
Upon graduating with his MFA in Creative Writing in 2016, Mahay created a podcast entitled Aroph Stories where he read contemporary and classic science fiction and fantasy stories.
After publishing the second-person present tense story "In the Beginning Was Logos" in July of 2016, Sick Lit Magazine picked up Mahay's unconventional POV story "Death Wish" in March of 2017.
In 2022, the second-person future tense story “In the Future Sense,” was published by Harrisburg Magazine. The experimental story “Soul Requisition” about an irate AI demanding a soul was Mahay's first pro-paying story published by Pinky Thinker Press, Issue 11, in 2024
===Recognitions & Awards===
* In 2008, won first place in the Annual Fiction Writing Contest held by North Shoreian Magazine with his short story “The Trees of Evermore”.
* In 2009, short story "Lord of the Dome", first published in New York Twist Magazine, won the WeMakeYourMovie Contest to be made into a short student film.
* In 2009, awarded a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts, provided by the East End Arts Council, to support his Watermill Grimoire project at the Watermill Center.
* From 2009 to 2012, served as a preliminary judge for storySouth’s Million Writers Award from 2009 to 2012.
* In 2010, accepted to a two-week residency at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, during which he wrote the Watermill Grimoire comprised of several character-driven vignettes inspired by artifacts from the Watermill archive.
* In 2013, recognized by the Long Island Council for the Arts in Freeport for his contributions to the arts community on Long Island.
* In 2016, obtained his MFA in Creative Writing & Literature from Stony Brook Southampton with the unpublished novel Body Insurance as his MFA thesis.
* In 2024, received an Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future Contest for his unpublished novelette, The Sky Gilded Gray.
===Current Projects===
Mahay has two unpublished novels to date, his MFA thesis Body Insurance, and a character-driven, literary fantasy The Undying. He also has an unpublished romantic novelette The Sky Gilded Gray that explore tragic flaws. Regarding his MFA thesis novel Body Insurance, it is described as a near-future Frankenstein retelling in the vein of Gattaca and Blade Runner, and it has received blurbs from author Roger Rosenblatt and the award-winning SFF author Jason Sanford. 
===Poems===
* “Willow” Mississippi Crow Magazine
Category:American male novelists
Category:American male short story writers
Category:American science fiction writers
Category:Calvin University alumni
Category:Stony Brook University alumni
Category:Writers from Alaska
Category:1980 births
Category:Living people
Category:Writers