Zack Robertson is an American expat who has been living in Japan for nearly two decades teaching English at nearly every level. Currently, he holds a tenured position at a national university teaching technical English to engineering majors, with a focus on psycholinguistics and materials development. His position has afforded him the opportunity to work with a wide range of scholars on graduate theses and presentations in fields such as AI and environmental science. These experiences have proven invaluable in providing the technical scaffolding for stories like “Frank”, which have a strong grounding in the “science” aspect of science fiction.

Originally hailing from Texas, Zack moved to Japan upon graduating from the University of Texas at Austin and began teaching at the elementary level as an assistant language teacher before receiving his masters in language teaching pedagogy from the University of Birmingham (UK) and moving to the university level. The experience of living in a foreign country over an extended period of time has allowed him to develop a unique perspective on society and culture, particularly in developing seemingly “normal” characters who find themselves walking the fringes of society.

His work can best be described as “psy-fi”, a unique blend of science fiction and psychological exploration that pulls the reader into the depths of its characters to explore what it means to be human (and not human)―all with a touch of wry humor. “Frank”, his first published novel written during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, tackles issues many find themselves grappling with in these dizzying times: the spiritual isolation accompanying the rapid digitalization of daily life and making sense of, and meaning out of, loss.

Zack joined the Provoco team in 2024 and is excited to share his future work with readers who, like Zack, enjoy being challenged by and growing from the stories they read.