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 (2022âÂÂ2023); and another original, Know Your Station (2022âÂÂ2023).
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).
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.
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 and 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 having been 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 hippos 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 characters, creative worldbuilding, and fast-paced action by critics, who had minor grievances with the duology's novella format and structural length, transitions, and failed chance at depicting indigenous populations accurately.
Upright Woman Wanted, a standalone novella published in February 2020, depicts a future American Southwest where queer librarians travel on horseback, spying on a fascist state on behalf of a resistance group.
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. When a magical accident happens on prom night, a boy ends up dead, and the main character, Alexis, and her group of close-knit friends try to right the terrible wrong. However, they fail and are left to find a way to live with themselves after.
Gailey's second novel for adults, The Echo Wife, is a science fiction thriller about an award-winning geneticist, Dr. Evelyn Caldwell, whose husband, Nathan, leaves her for her clone. It was published in February 2021 by Tor Books.
In 2022 Gailey released their third novel for adults, Just Like Home. Published in July 2022 by Tor Books, Just Like Home is a gothic thriller about monsters, secrets, and the love of children for their parents.
Gailey's most recent novella, Spread Me, was published in September 2025 by Tor Books on its Nightfire imprint. It was notable for its depictions of body horror and explorations of transgressive sexuality.
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 (2022âÂÂ2023) and an original science fiction series titled Know Your Station (2022âÂÂ2023), co-created with artist Liana Kangas.
They've also done work with Marvel Comics with stories published in Crypt of Shadows #1 (2023), Werewolf by Night: Unholy Alliance (2024), and Predator Black, White & Blood #1 (2025) and full runs on both White Widow (2023) and Avengers United #54âÂÂ63 (2024).
Gailey grew up in Fremont, California and lives in Northern California.
Gailey is non-binary.
Contains the novellas River of Teeth and Taste of Marrow, as well as additional short stories, including "Worth Her Weight in Gold"