Sofia Samatar

Sofia Samatar is an American author of fantasy and literary fiction known for her novel A Stranger in Olondria (World Fantasy Award winner, 2014). Her work is celebrated for its lyrical prose, deeply literary sensibility, and its exploration of reading, writing, and storytelling as themes within fantasy. Samatar grew up in the American Midwest with roots in Somalia, Egypt, and Switzerland. She holds a PhD in African languages and literature and teaches at James Madison University in Virginia. A Stranger in Olondria, her debut novel, is set in an imaginary world inspired by East African and Mediterranean cultures and follows a young merchant who becomes haunted by a ghost. She has also won the Locus Award, the Crawford Award, and published the novel The Winged Histories and the collection Tender. Samatar is known for writing about the act of reading and the power of literature within fantasy contexts.