Fin Leary

A647A783-85DC-4A0C-A6C8-9B05151E1457

Fin Leary (they/he) is an award-winning Boston-based “Swiss army knife” of publishing, and a transgender and autistic fiction author. Fin Leary is the 2026 Young Adult Writer-in-Residence at Porter Square Books.

Fin Leary is the editor of the science fiction anthology Future States of Stars (OwlCrate Press, Spring 2026). They are a contributor to the young adult horror anthology These Bodies Ain’t Broken edited by Madeline Dyer (Page Street Publishing, Fall 2025).

Their fiction has been supported by the 2025 Tin House Winter Workshop, Sundress Academy for the Arts, the Changemaker Authors Cohort through Narrative Initiative, and GrubStreet. They were a 2024 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices Fellow for Young Adult Fiction, and a 2024 Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree.

Fin’s flash fiction “Revere Beach in II Acts” was a finalist for Boston in 100 Words in 2024. Their creative nonfiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. They were one of two finalists for the 2025 Tin House YA Residency.

Fin is a Program Manager for the literary nonprofit We Need Diverse Books. Fin also teaches in the Publishing, Literature, and Writing department at Emerson College, and is a writing instructor at GrubStreet, including in the Teen Summer Writing Program. They are a book reviewer for PEOPLE magazine and Booklist, the trade magazine of The American Library Association. Fin was a line editor for the horror/fantasy anthology Monsters in Masquerade edited by Robin Alvarez (OwlCrate Press, 2025).

Fin’s goal as a publishing professional is to amplify marginalized voices across all aspects of the industry. They were a 2024 Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree and a 2017 Bookbuilders of Boston scholar for their commitment to this work.

Fin’s work has been published in the anthology About Us edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Prevention, The Oprah Magazine, Boston Globe Magazine, Bitch, Refinery29, Good Housekeeping, The Week, Seventeen, HuffPost, Healthline, Quartz, Marie Claire, Vice, Chicago Tribune, The Rumpus, Narratively, Allure, Racked, Bustle, TalkPoverty, The Establishment, HelloGiggles, Bust, Redbook, Brooklyn Magazine, Culture: the word on cheese, Rooted in Rights, and more. Their journalism has been consistently featured in Top 10 best national lists and taught in college courses, including in the Simmons University MFA in Writing for Children.

Fin has a BA in writing from Westfield State University, where they were a Celeste and John Loughman fellow and a Commonwealth honors scholar; and an MA in publishing and writing from Emerson College, where they were recognized as a Dean’s Fellow.

Fin lives with their orange literary cat and a rainbow bookshelf outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

SHORT BIO

Fin Leary (they/he) is a transgender and autistic author, a program manager at We Need Diverse Books, and a faculty member at Emerson College and GrubStreet. Fin is the 2026 Young Adult Writer-in-Residence at Porter Square Books. Fin was a 2024 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices Fellow for Young Adult Fiction. Fin is the editor of the science fiction anthology Future States of Stars (OwlCrate Press, 2026). They are a contributor to the young adult horror anthology These Bodies Ain’t Broken edited by Madeline Dyer (Page Street Publishing, 2025). Their work has been published in the anthology About Us edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, as well as the New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Refinery29, The Boston Globe Magazine, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Cosmopolitan, The Oprah Magazine, Vice, Bitch, Teen Vogue, Healthline, and more. Fin lives with their orange literary cat and a rainbow bookshelf outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

VERY SHORT BIO

Fin Leary (they/he) is a transgender and autistic author, a program manager at We Need Diverse Books, and a faculty member at Emerson College and GrubStreet. Fin Leary is the 2026 Young Adult Writer-in-Residence at Porter Square Books. Fin is the editor of the science fiction anthology Future States of Stars (OwlCrate Press, 2026). They are a contributor to These Bodies Ain’t Broken edited by Madeline Dyer (Page Street Publishing, 2025). Fin lives with their orange literary cat and a rainbow bookshelf outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

HEADSHOT IMAGE DESCRIPTION

Fin Leary, a white genderqueer person with brown hair and blue eyes, standing outside among autumnal fall foliage. They are wearing a black shirt, a vest with gothic imagery on it, and holding a bound leather book.

HEADSHOTS

You can download my headshots and media kit here.

Photo credit for my headshots: Caitlin Wilder Photography; Amanda Macchia Photography.