Steven L. Peck

Steven L. Peck (born July 25, 1957) is an evolutionary biologist, blogger, poet, and novelist. His literary work is influential in Mormon literature circles. He is a professor of biology at Brigham Young University (BYU) He grew up in Moab, Utah and lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

After failing high school history, Peck studied to receive his GED. Peck received a bachelor's degree in 1986 from Brigham Young University in statistics and computer science with a minor in zoology. His master's is from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (environmental biostatistics), and his 1997 PhD from North Carolina State University (biomathematics and entomology). His dissertation was titled "Spatial Patterns and Processes in the Evolution of Insecticide Resistance."

During their honeymoon, Steven and his wife, Lori, were hit by a drunk driver in Oregon. They were badly injured, but survived. Steven and Lori have five children.

Peck believes that God "only enters the universe through our consciousness." He compares scriptural interpretation to scientific interpretation, in that both nature and scriptures are unchanging, but our understanding of them changes over the course of generations. While the LDS church currently has no official position on evolution, Peck teaches evolution in the courses he teaches at BYU.

On the subject of writing, Peck says that it is a way for him to explore the complexities in his life. He stated that anything we do to build our knowledge of the universe helps to build the kingdom of God.

In 2008, Peck worked with the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria making models of tsetse fly ecology and population genetics.

Michael Austin at Dialogue's website wrote that Peck is "one of Mormonism's best living writers." Summarizing Peck's book Evolving Faith, he wrote: "Because all knowledge incorporates subjective assumptions, both religion and science require an element of faith." Literal interpretations of scripture cheat "both religion, by ignoring what the author of the text was really trying to tell us, and science, by setting up unnecessary oppositions between important religious principles and easily testable facts."At the Association for Mormon Letters, Heather Young wrote that Evolving Faith had "enlarged my appreciation for my time on earth and the part I can play in protecting its immeasurable gifts." At Common Consent, Steve Evans said the book was "not for beginners" and uses terminology that is difficult to understand, and that the two parts of the book were not well-connected. Of Wandering Realities, Evans said the stories were "wondrous and rich."

In A Short Stay in Hell, a man must find the book of his life's story among every possible book. David Spaltro described the novella as "one of the most original and powerfully moving things I’ve ever read" and has acquired the rights to adapt it into a film. Doug Gibson at the Standard Examiner wrote that a hell that contains an "eternity of the mundane" was a "pretty effective hell." Derek Lee at Rational Faiths wrote that the novella encouraged reflection on the nature of the afterlife and what living forever would mean.

BHoges at By Common Consent praised Rifts of Rime's narrative and setting, and said that its discussion of religious topics, while plentiful, were a bit overt.

Peck is a 2016 finalist for best short fiction, Association for Mormon Letters.

• 2011
  • Warp and Weave science fiction competition: 1st place for "Stratton Yellows"
  • Brookie and D.K. Brown Fiction Contest: Honorable Mention for "The Problem"
  • Association for Mormon Letters: Award for novel for The Scholar of Moab
• 2012
  • Irreantum Fiction Contest: 2nd place for "A Strange Report from the Church Archives"
  • Montaigne Medal Finalist for The Scholar of Moab
• 2014
  • Association for Mormon Letters: Award for short fiction for "Two-Dog Dose"
• 2015
  • 2015 Analytical Laboratory Reader's Awards: 2nd place for "Five Wagers on What Intelligent Life Elsewhere in the Universe Will Be Like"
• 2017
  • Association for Mormon Letters: Award for novel for Gilda Trillim: Shepherdess of Rats