John Richard Saylor obtained an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte, where he graduated first in his class. He also obtained his doctorate at Yale University, his masters degree at the University of Minnesota, and his bachelors degree at the State University of New York, Buffalo, all in mechanical engineering.

Saylor was a literary artist resident at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, N.M. and attended the Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop where he worked with New York Times science writer, George Johnson. He twice attended the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop with Steve Almond and with MacArthur Fellow Karen Russell. He has attended the Clemson University fiction workshop (ENGL 445) with Professor Keith Lee Morris and John Warner, the Emrys Writing Room (Greenville, South Carolina) with Scott Gould, and the Writer’s Center (Bethesda, Maryland) with Liz Poliner

Saylor lives in Pickens County, South Carolina where he works as a professor of mechanical engineering at Clemson University.