Ryka Aoki is an American author renowned for her contributions across novels, poetry, and essays. She is known for her teaching roles in English at Santa Monica College and gender studies at Antioch University.

Aoki's literary works include poetry collections such as Seasonal Velocities and Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul, as well as novels including He Mele a Hilo and Light From Uncommon Stars. She gained notable recognition when her poetry collection Seasonal Velocities was shortlisted for the transgender nonfiction category at the 25th Lambda Literary Awards in 2013. Her subsequent work, Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul, was a finalist at the 28th Lambda Literary Awards in 2016.

Her novel Light From Uncommon Stars received critical acclaim, being nominated for the prestigious 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel, as well as the 2022 Los Angeles Times Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction. It went on to win the 2021 Otherwise Award, which was presented at WisCon 46 in May of 2023.