# Sarah Gailey

Sarah Gailey is an American author of fantasy, science fiction, and mystery novels, short stories, and comics.
As a comics writer, they have published Eat the Rich (2021); an arc in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, The Vampire Slayer (2022–2023); and another original, Know Your Station (2022–2023).
Perhaps best known for their American Hippo duology, the alternate history novella River of Teeth (2017) was a finalist for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella, and the 2018 Locus Award for Best Novella. A follow-up, Taste of Marrow, was shortly released thereafter, with an omnibus published the year next.
Their full-length novels include award-nominated Magic for Liars (2019), The Echo Wife (2021) and Just Like Home (2022).

## Career

Gailey's fiction has been published in The Atlantic, Tor.com, and Fireside Magazine. Their non-fiction writing has appeared on Tor.com, Mashable, The Boston Globe and Uncanny Magazine.
According to Gailey's website, their work has been translated into seven different languages.

### Novels and other work

Gailey first became well known for their 2017 American Hippo duology, consisting of the novellas River of Teeth and Taste of Marrow. The pair of novellas is about the hypothetical of if hippos had been imported into southern US bayou country as food stock as well as a counteractive measure against invasive water hyacinth; and inspired by the real proposed House Resolution 23261 (1910). Louisiana Congressman Robert F. Broussard's bill is retconned as a bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Buchanan during his lame duck period in 1861. Years later an extermination group is hired to eliminate feral individuals that have killed locals. Main characters are notably LGBT or non-binary, and reviewers have discussed the complexity of their interactions. It was well-received (for its interesting characters, creative worldbuilding, and fast-paced action) by critics, who had minor grievances with the novella format and structural length, transition decisions, and the failed chance to depict indigenous populations accurately.
Upright Woman Wanted, a standalone novella, was published in February 2020.
Their first full-length novel, Magic for Liars, was published by Tor Books in June 2019. Magic for Liars steps into the crime and mystery dimension of writing, while also retaining fantasy aspects of magic, which notably are largely not exposited. BuzzFeed News called it "one of the best fantasies of 2019."
Their debut young adult novel, When We Were Magic, was published by Simon Pulse in March 2020.
Gailey's second novel for adults, The Echo Wife, was published in February 2021 by Tor Books.
In 2022 Gailey released their third novel for adults, Just Like Home, published in July by Tor Books.

### Comics

In August 2021, their five-issue original comics series Eat the Rich premiered.
They continued their work in comics with a 12-issue Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics arc titled The Vampire Slayer (2022–2023) and an original science fiction series titled Know Your Station (2022–2023), co-created with artist Liana Kangas.

## Personal life

Gailey is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, and as of 2019 lives in Los Angeles.
Gailey is non-binary.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result |
| 2017 | — | John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer | — | Shortlisted |
| 2017 | "The Women of Harry Potter" posts | British Fantasy Award | Non-fiction | Shortlisted |
| 2017 | "The Women of Harry Potter" posts | Hugo Award | Related Work | Shortlisted |
| 2017 | River of Teeth | Nebula Award | Novella | Shortlisted |
| 2018 | River of Teeth | Hugo Award | Novella | Shortlisted |
| 2018 | River of Teeth | Locus Award | Novella | Nominated |
| 2018 | — | Hugo Award | Fan Writer | Shortlisted |
| 2019 | "STET" | Hugo Award | Short Story | Shortlisted |
| 2019 | "STET" | Locus Award | Short Story | Nominated |
| 2020 | "Away With the Wolves" | Hugo Award | Novelette | Shortlisted |
| 2020 | Magic for Liars | Locus Award | First Novel | Nominated |
| 2021 | Upright Women Wanted | Hugo Award | Novella | Shortlisted |
| 2021 | Upright Women Wanted | Locus Award | Novella | Nominated |