Stephen Markley

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Stephen Markley is an American writer and journalist from Mount Vernon, Ohio. He was born on October 2, 1983, and studied at Miami University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

Markley has published both nonfiction and fiction. His nonfiction books are Publish This Book (2010), The Great Dysmorphia (2012), and Tales of Iceland (2013). His novels include Ohio (2018), a story set during a single evening, and The Deluge (2023), a climate-change dystopian epic that follows events from 2013 into the 2030s.

The Deluge received strong praise, with The New York Times calling its portrayal of climate change realistic and nuanced and noting its grim yet playful tone. It was also named a Notable Book by The New York Times in 2023, and The Guardian reviewed it as “apocalypse in slow motion.” Esquire published a profile/interview with Markley about the work, and there has been talk of adapting Ohio into an HBO series produced by Sam Levinson.

In short, Markley is known for sharp, ambitious writing—ranging from memoir-like nonfiction to sprawling, thought-provoking fiction that often tackles big social and environmental issues.