River Adams Books & Biography

Growing up a concert pianist in Soviet Russia, River Adams (they/them) came to America as a Jewish refugee during the collapse of the USSR and began their life from scratch in their adopted homeland. Before earning an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College, they graduated from the Delaware County Community College, Rosemont College, earned an MTS degree from Harvard Divinity School, then returned to Pennsylvania to teach world religions to college students at their alma maters. At the same time, they worked as a certified medical interpreter for Russian-speaking patients at Philadelphia hospitals. Over the past 30 years, they have traveled to and lived in 30 states, falling in love with each. Today, River lives in Massachusetts, writing and taking care of a big, noisy family of six humans, two dogs, and a demon disguised as a cat. They are the author of many published short stories, essays, and a biography of Leonard Swidler, There Must Be YOU (2014). The Light of Seven Days is their debut novel.