Fin Leary (they/them) is an award-winning Boston-based “Swiss army knife” of publishing, writing instructor, and a transgender and autistic fiction author. Fin Leary is the 2026 Young Adult Writer-in-Residence at Porter Square Books, and the 2026 Westfield State University Alumni of the Year.
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 McCormack Writing Center (formerly Tin House), the St. Botolph Club Foundation, the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, Sundress Academy for the Arts, and Narrative Initiative. They were a 2024 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices Fellow for Young Adult Fiction, and a 2024 Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree. Fin was a finalist for the Boston Public Library Writer-in-Residence program in 2025. 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. As a poet, Fin performs with The Poetry Brothel Boston, and their poetry has been recorded on GBH and displayed in Boston City Hall as part of the 2026 City of Boston Mayor’s Poetry Program.
Fin Leary is an instructor at Emerson College, GrubStreet, and the Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop. They teach in the Publishing, Literature, and Writing department at Emerson College, including in the MFA program in Popular Fiction, with courses including Queer Literature, Young Adult Literature, and Marketing for Authors. They regularly serve as a thesis chair and reader for MFA manuscripts. At GrubStreet, they teach speculative fiction in the Teen Summer Writing Program for young adults ages 13-18, as well as courses for adults including Intro to Fiction, Novel-in-Progress (including a section for LGBTQIA+ Writers), Writing Draft Generator, 6 Weeks 6 Stories, Developing Short Stories, and How to Strengthen Your Professional Writing. Their courses at the Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop including Writing a Speculative Fiction Novel. They have taught writing workshops for a variety of clients such as Elegant Literature, the Boston Poetry Slam, and Provincetown TransWeek.
Fin’s goal as a publishing professional is to amplify marginalized voices across all aspects of the industry. Fin is a Program Manager for the literary nonprofit We Need Diverse Books, where they were previously the Communications Manager and a programming volunteer. 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 nonfiction 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/them) is a transgender and autistic author, a program manager at We Need Diverse Books, and an instructor at Emerson College, GrubStreet, and the Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop. Fin is the 2026 Young Adult Writer-in-Residence at Porter Square Books, and the 2026 Westfield State University Alumni of the Year. Fin was a 2024 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices Fellow for Young Adult Fiction. They are a contributor to the young adult horror anthology These Bodies Ain’t Broken edited by Madeline Dyer (Page Street Publishing, 2025). Their fiction has been supported by the McCormack Writing Center (formerly Tin House), Lambda Literary, the St. Botolph Club Foundation, the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, Sundress Academy for the Arts, and Narrative Initiative, and their poetry has been supported by GBH and the City of Boston Mayor’s Poetry Program. Fin lives with their orange literary cat and a rainbow bookshelf outside of Boston, Massachusetts.
VERY SHORT BIO
Fin Leary (they/them) is a transgender and autistic author, a program manager at We Need Diverse Books, and an instructor at Emerson College, GrubStreet, and the Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop. Fin Leary is the 2026 Young Adult Writer-in-Residence at Porter Square Books and the 2026 Westfield State University Alumni of the Year. 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.
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Fin Leary 