Sam J. Miller

Sam J. Miller (born February 7, 1979) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror author. His stories have appeared in magazines such as Clarkesworld, Asimov's Science Fiction, Lightspeed, and more. They've been reprinted in over 15 "Year's Best" collections. He has been a finalist for the Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, and Theodore Sturgeon Award. His short story "57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides" won the 2013 Shirley Jackson Award.

His second novel, Blackfish City, won the 2019 John W. Campbell Memorial Award.

Early life and education Sam J. Miller grew up in Hudson, New York, where his family ran a butcher shop. He attended Rutgers University, where he studied Cinema Studies and Russian language and literature. He grew up Jewish and lives with his husband in New York City, where he works as a community organizer for a homelessness organization.

Miller was a member of the 2012 Clarion Workshop, studying under authors Holly Black, Cassandra Clare and Ted Chiang.

Career Miller began publishing stories in ’zines and online in the early 2000s, but didn't make his first pro-sale until 2013. His other stories have been published in magazines such as Clarkesworld, Asimov's Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, and Lightspeed. His stories have been reprinted in over 15 "Year's Best" story collections and have been a finalist for multiple Nebula Awards, along with the World Fantasy Award and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award.

Miller states that he writes "speculative fiction because that's how the world looks to me. Life is magic. Human society is horror. The world is science fiction." "I love activism narratives. I love narratives about fighting back. As much as I love reading about what scares me, I love reading about how we fight back…"

Miller's young adult novel The Art of Starving was released by HarperCollins in July 2017. The novel is about a gay, bullied teenage boy who believes that extreme hunger awakens supernatural abilities and is rooted in Miller's own experience with an adolescent eating disorder. It was a finalist for the 2018 Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (formerly titled the World Science Fiction Society Award) and won the 2017 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. His second young adult novel, Destroy All Monsters, was published by HarperTeen in 2019. His second adult novel, The Blade Between, was published by Ecco Press in 2020.

Miller's first short-fiction collection, Boys, Beasts & Men, was published in May 2022 by Tachyon Publications. It contains previously published and new stories with an introduction written by Amal El-Mohtar. It won the 2023 Locus Award for Best Collection.

Awards and nominations "Calved" (Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2015) was third-placed in the 2016 Asimov's Reader Poll for Best Short Story.