English science fiction, fantasy and horror short fiction author
Sam J. Miller (born February 7, 1979) is an American science fiction, fantasy and horror short fiction author. His stories have appeared in publications such as "Clarkesworld", "Asimov's Science Fiction", and "Lightspeed", along with over 15 "year's best" story collections. He was finalist for multiple Nebula Awards along with the World Fantasy and Theodore Sturgeon Awards. He won the 2013 Shirley Jackson Award for his short story "57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides." His debut novel, "The Art of Starving", was published in 2017 and his novel "Blackfish City" won the 2019 John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
Life.
Sam J. Miller grew up in Hudson, New York, where his family ran a butcher shop. He grew up Jewish and lives with his husband in New York City, where he works as a community organizer for a homelessness organization.
Career.
Miller studied writing as part at the 2012 Clarion Workshop under authors Holly Black, Cassandra Clare and Ted Chiang.
Miller began regularly publishing his short stories in 2013 with "57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides" in "Nightmare Magazine". The story later won the 2013 Shirley Jackson Award for best short fiction. 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 and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Awards.
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." While Miller deals with politics in his work as a community organizer, he says that "arguing a political point is a pretty good way to kill a story. But I do think it's possible to explore in fiction the issues that are important to us. That's the writing that excites me the most."
Miller's prose has been called "evocative", "disturbing" and "grim stuff, but compelling".
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 World Science Fiction Society award for Best Young Adult novel and won the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2018.
His first novel for adults, "Blackfish City", was released in April 2018 by Ecco Press. 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 &amp; 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.
References.
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