Ashwalker

by Joshua Bennett

In a world ravaged by nuclear fire and ancient horrors, survival is a dying art. Kael Voss — the Ashwalker — has outlasted ashstorms, monsters, and mankind’s own self-destruction. But when a mission deep within the ruins of Rustgrave awakens something ancient and unspeakable, Kael is forced into a battle for more than just his own survival. As the infection spreads across the wasteland, twisting flesh and stone into living nightmares, Kael must lead a caravan of desperate survivors across a dying world. Among them is Riven Thorne, a teenage fighter whose stubborn spirit forces Kael to confront the man he once was — and the leader he must become. Hunted by monstrous forces and betrayed by their own fears, Kael and Riven face an impossible fight against the rising darkness… or be consumed by it.

105 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 3, 2025

About the author

Joshua Bennett received his Ph.D. in English from Princeton University. He also holds an M.A. in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Warwick, where he was a Marshall Scholar. In 2010, he delivered the Commencement Address at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with the distinctions of Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude.

Winner of the 2015 National Poetry Series, Dr. Bennett has received fellowships from the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, Cave Canem, the Josephine de Karman Fellowship Trust, and the Ford Foundation. His writing has been published or is forthcoming in Boston Review, Callaloo, The Kenyon Review, Poetry and elsewhere. He has recited his original work at venues such as the Sundance Film Festival, the NAACP Image Awards, and President Obama’s Evening of Poetry and Music at The White House. He is currently a member of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University.