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. Retrieved June 1, 2026. 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 short story "57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides" (Nightmare Magazine) 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 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." 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." "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 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 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 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 & 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. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
Yearyear based on official award yearTitleAwardCategoryResultRef2013"57 Reasons for Slate Quarry Suicides"Shirley Jackson AwardShort Fiction2014"The Beasts We Want To Be"Locus AwardShort Story'"We Are the Cloud"Nebula AwardNovelette2015Theodore Sturgeon Award—"When Your Child Strays from God" Nebula AwardShort Story2016"The Heat of Us: Notes Toward an Oral History"World Fantasy AwardShort Fiction"Things With Beards"Nebula AwardNoveletteShirley Jackson AwardShort Fiction2017Theodore Sturgeon Award—"Angel, Monster, Man"Shirley Jackson AwardNoveletteThe Art of StarvingAndre Norton Award—2018Crawford Award— Retrieved June 1, 2026.Lodestar Award— Retrieved June 1, 2026.Locus AwardFirst Novel Retrieved June 1, 2026.Blackfish CityNebula AwardBest Novel Retrieved 25 April 2026.2019Campbell Memorial Award— Retrieved June 1, 2026.2020Destroy All MonstersLocus AwardYoung Adult Novel Retrieved June 1, 2026.2021"Let All the Children Boogie"Nebula AwardShort Story Retrieved 25 April 2026.2022Locus AwardShort Story2023Boys, Beasts & MenLocus AwardBest Collection2026"Courtney Lovecraft’s Book of the Dead"Locus AwardShort Story Retrieved 2026-05-31.
Bibliography Novels The Art of Starving (HarperCollins, 2017)Winner, Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018. Blackfish City (Ecco Press, 2018) Destroy All Monsters (HarperTeen, 2019) The Blade Between (Ecco Press, 2020) Red Star Hustle (Saga Doubles, 2025) (in double-sided book with Apprehension by Mary Robinette Kowal) Retrieved 2026-05-17.
Collections
Anthology appearances
Short fiction TitleShort stories unless otherwise noted. Year First published Reprinted/collected Notes "The Beasts We Want To Be" 2013 Electric Velocipede #27 (Winter 2013) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022) "57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides" 2013 Nightmare Magazine #15 (December 2013) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022) "Allosaurus Burgers" 2014 Shimmer Magazine #20 (July 2014) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022) "We are the Cloud" 2014 Lightspeed #52 (August 2014) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022); The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015 (October 2015) Novelette "The Heat of Us: Notes Toward an Oral History" 2015 Uncanny Magazine #2 (Jan/Feb 2015) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022); The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016 (October 2016) "When Your Child Strays from God" 2015 Clarkesworld Magazine #106 (July 2015) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022) "Ghosts of Home" 2015 Lightspeed #63 (August 2015) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022); The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Ten (May 2016) "Calved" 2015 Asimov's Science Fiction (September 2015) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022); The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Ten (May 2016); The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 1 (June 2016); The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection (July 2016) "Angel, Monster, Man" 2016 Nightmare Magazine #40 (January 2016) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022); Wilde Stories 2017: The Year's Best Gay Speculative Fiction (July 2017); The Year's Best Weird Fiction: Volume 4 Novelette "Things With Beards" 2016 Clarkesworld Magazine #117 (June 2016) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022); The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eleven (April 2017); The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 2 (April 2017);The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection (July 2017); The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2017 (October 2017) "The Future of Hunger in the Age of Programmable Matter" 2017 Tor.com chapbook (October 2017) "Conspicuous Plumage" 2018 Lightspeed #100 (September 2018) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022) "Last Gods" 2018 Clarkesworld Magazine #142 (July 2018) Retrieved 2026-05-18. The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 2 (April 2017) "Shattered Sidewalks of the Human Heart" 2019 Clarkesworld Magazine #154 (July 2019) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022); The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: Volume 1 (October 2020) "Shucked" 2019 The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction #746 (Nov/Dec 2019) Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022); The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2020 Edition (August 2021) "It Was Saturday Night, I Guess That Makes It All Right" 2019 A People’s Future of the United States (February 2019) "The Nation of the Sick" 2020 Entanglements: Tomorrow’s Lovers, Families, and Friends (Penguin House, 2020) "Let All the Children Boogie" 2021 Tor.com chapbook (January 2021) The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2022 (October 2022) "Darkness Metastatic" 2021 Nightmare Magazine #100 (January 2021) Retrieved 10 April 2026 "Tyrannosaurus Hex" 2021 Uncanny Magazine (January 2021) Retrieved 10 April 2026 "Feral Arcade Children of the American Northeast" 2021 The Southwest Review (August 2021) Retrieved 2026-05-17. The Big Book of Cyberpunk (September 2023) "Sun in an Empty Room" 2022 Boys, Beasts & Men (June 2022) Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy 2022 Solaris Satellites chapbook (July 2022), Novella "A Field Guide to the Bear Men of Leningrad" 2023 The Kenyon Review (2023) "If Someone You Love Has Become a Vurdalak" 2023 The Dark Magazine #98 (July 2023) Retrieved 10 April 2026.The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024 (October 2024) "Courtney Lovecraft’s Book of the Dead" 2025 Nightmare Magazine #157 (October 2025) Retrieved 10 April 2026. "The Cinema of Babel" 2026 Uncanny Magazine #71 (July 2026) Retrieved 2026-08-28.
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