With a 20-year background as an editor, I love to talk to students, readers, and writers about a wide range of topics, including craft, the writing life, queer and speculative fiction, and more. I’ve taught graduate-level classes, mentored high school students, and facilitated community workshops. You can download and review my CV here, or drop me an inquiry from the contact page.

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Events | Press | Book Details | Author Photos | Bio

Upcoming Classes & Events

• November 14, 2026: Texas Book Festival, moderating “Carrying Home: Belonging, Longing, and the Palestinian Experience,” a panel with Zaina Arafat and Fady Joudah, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Texas State Capitol Building, Capitol Extension room E2.026.

• March 19, 2027: AWP Conference, moderating “The Fictional Self in Exile: Hannah Lillith Assadi and Naeem Murr,” 9 a.m. Central, Chicago.

• March 2027: AWP Conference, panelist on “Long and Winding Roads: Embracing a Slow Writing Process,” moderated by Caitlin Horrocks, Chicago.

Press

Reviews

• ⭐️ June Gervais writing for the North American Review says The Skin and Its Girl is written in “prose so exquisite and supple that it feels embroidered onto the page” (April 23, 2024).

• ⭐️ Nicole Yurcaba writing for sage cigarettes magazine praises The Skin and Its Girl as “a refreshing read during an incredibly dark time.” (April 17, 2024)

• ⭐️ Audiofile Magazine describes the audiobook version of The Skin and Its Girl as “a beautifully told family saga that balances past and present storylines to keep the listener in suspense.” (May 2023)

• ⭐️ Pittsburgh City Paper by Jordan Snowden: “Sarah Cypher blends magic realism, queerness, and Palestinian culture in debut novel The Skin and Its Girl” (May 24, 2023)

• ⭐️ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Veronica Corpuz: “Pittsburgh-raised author plays with form and plot in debut novel” (April 29, 2023)

• ⭐️ NPR by Ilana Masad: “'The Skin and Its Girl' ponders truths, half-truths, and lies passed down in families” (April 26, 2023)

• ⭐️ The Oregonian’s Robert Allen Papinchak calls THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL a “stunning debut” (April 24, 2023)

• ⭐️ BookPage calls THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL “an intriguing debut … and a lyrical and haunting journey through generations and across oceans.” (April 4, 2023)

• ⭐️ Bustle calls THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL “poetic, queer, and highly inventive” in “The Most Anticipated Books Of Spring & Summer 2023” (April 3, 2023)

• ⭐️ Booklist’s starred review calls THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL “stirring,” “captivating,” and “a splendid first novel” (March 2023)

• ⭐️ Publishers Weekly by Joe Demes: A starred, featured review of THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL (February 14, 2023)

• More reviews in the Michigan Daily Book Review, TriQuarterly, and the New York Times Review of Books

Interviews

• Martha Anne Toll for Pride Month 2024: “Sarah Cypher on writing intimacy and queerness, and other interesting reads” (June 20, 2024)

• Debutiful: “First Taste: Sarah Cypher Reads From The Skin And Its Girl” (July 24, 2023)

• Blythe Baird of Loft Literary Center: “Sarah Cypher on Cultural Heritage, Sexuality, and Magical Realism in her Debut Novel” (July 22, 2023)

• P&T Knitwear: “The Hook with Sarah Cypher” (June 8, 2023)

• Marshal Zeringue’s Campaign for the American Reader: “Q&A with Sarah Cypher” (May 15, 2023)

• David Gutowski’s Largehearted Boy: “Sarah Cypher’s Playlist for Her Novel “The Skin and Its Girl” (May 4, 2023)

• KVNF with Taya Jae’s The Pen and the Sword: “Sarah Cypher discusses symbolism, the role of queer stories and defining truth in her debut Novel, The Skin and Its Girl” (April 29, 2023)

• Queer Everything podcast: “Sarah Cypher, author of The Skin and Its Girl” (April 28, 2023)

• Shondaland: “Authors to Watch: Sarah Cypher’s Debut Novel, ‘The Skin and Its Girl,’ Tells an Intricate Family Story” (April 27, 2023)

• Pop Fiction Women podcast: “Sarah Cypher: Complicated Conversations Series” (April 27, 2023)

• Littsburgh: “Q&A: Sarah Cypher (author of The Skin and Its Girl)” (April 26, 2023)

• The Bright Side (Substack) interview with Laura Stanfill: “Interview: Sarah Cypher, The Skin and Its Girl” (April 25, 2023)

• Bloom interview: “History worn on the skin: Q&A with Sarah Cypher” (April 25, 2023)

• The Chills at Will podcast: “Episode 179 with Sarah Cypher” (April 24, 2023)

• Trevor Project interview: “Authors Making a Difference: Celebrating Women’s History Month with a Panel of Women and Gender-Expansive Authors” (March 7, 2023)

News Coverage

• Electric Literature: “Announcing The Shortlist for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction” (July 16, 2024); also on Lit Hub and Locus (July 17, 2024)

• Mother Jones calls SKIN “a complex, multilayered novel” and one of “The 29 Books We Couldn’t Stop Thinking About in 2023” (December 15, 2023)

• Literary Hub: “The 138 Best Book Covers of 2023” (December 12, 2023)

• Them.us: “Our 23 Favorite LGBTQ+ Books of 2023” (December 6, 2023)

• Harper’s Bazaar: “5 of the Best Holiday Books to Read This Summer” (June 23, 2023)

• BookPage: “Your big, gay reading list for Pride 2023” (June 6, 2023)

• Women.com: “31 Books That Will Make You Laugh, Cry, & Learn This Pride Month” (June 6, 2023)

• Goodreads: “New and Upcoming Books to Discover This Pride Month” (June 1, 2023)

• Electric Literature: “8 Novels Spotlighting Middle Eastern American Women” (April 26, 2023)

• Goodreads highlights SKIN as one of “6 New Books Recommended by Readers This Week” (April 25, 2023)

• Penguin Random House’s The ReadDown: “Must-Read Fiction by Arab and Arab American Authors”

• Harper’s Bazaar gives THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL a special mention in the “Fashion and Culture” section (April 4, 2023)

• Goodreads includes THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL in “The Most Popular Debut Novels So Far This Year” (April 4, 2023)

• LGBTQ Reads, “New Releases: April 2023” (April 4, 2023)

• Debutiful, “Can’t-miss debut books you should read in April” (April 3, 2023)

• LGBTQ Reads, “Happy Arab American Heritage Month 2023!” (April 3, 2023)

• Dandelion Chandelier, “30 Best New Novels and Non-Fiction Book Releases for April 2023” (April 3, 2023)

• Lambda Literary, “April Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Books” (April 1, 2023)

• Alta, a California Book Club, “16 New Books for April” (March 31, 2023)

• Seattle Public Library’s Shelf Talk, “New fiction roundup, April 2023” (March 29, 2023)

• Read Between the Spines, “April 2023 Book of the Month Predictions” (March 28, 2023)

• Write or Die Magazine, “Books We Can't Wait to Read: April 2023” (March 27, 2023)

• Autostraddle: “114 Queer and Feminist Books Coming Your Way Spring 2023” (March 7, 2023)

• The Week: “6 highly anticipated books coming spring 2023” (March 4, 2023)

• Camille Styles: “The Best New Spring Reads to Enter Your Rory Gilmore Era” (March 3, 2023)

• BookPage: Featured as a “Writer to Watch” in “6 Authors to Keep on Your Radar” (February 9, 2023)

• Book Riot: “2023 LGBTQ Books to Add to Your TBR” (January 11, 2023)

• Electric Literature: “The Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books of Spring 2023” (January 3, 2023)

• Goodreads: “105 of the Buzziest Debut Novels of the New Year” (January 2, 2023)

• Goodreads: “99 Upcoming Books the Goodreads Editors Can’t Wait to Read” (February 21, 2023)

• Today.com: “38 new books we can't wait to read in 2023” (December 5, 2022)

Author Events Available Online

• The Writer’s Center: Virtual Craft Chat with Novelist Sarah Cypher (May 4, 2023)

• Littsburgh: Video Spotlight: Sarah Cypher (author of The Skin and Its Girl) (May 1, 2023)

• East City Bookshop: Sarah Cypher, The Skin and Its Girl, with Lupita Aquino (April 25, 2023)

• The Chills at Will Podcast: Video Part 1 & Part 2 with Sarah Cypher (April 24, 2023)

Author Photos

Click to download compressed high-res JPEGs. When the image opens in a new browser tab, right click and select “Save Image.” Whenever possible, please credit Jen Joseph Photography.

Author Bio

Short:

Sarah Cypher is an Arab American independent editor and award-winning author of The Skin and Its Girl (Ballantine 2023), living in Austin, Texas, with her wife.

Medium:

Sarah Cypher is the author of The Skin and Its Girl, a Stonewall Honor Book also shortlisted for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. Her work has received support from Austin's Wild Basin Creative Research Center, the Headlands Center for the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, and the Bread Loaf Writers Conferences. She currently serves as executive director of RAWI, which means "storyteller" in Arabic and is a space-making organization for SWANA writers. She grew up in a Lebanese family near Pittsburgh and now lives in Austin, Texas, with her wife.

Long:

Sarah Cypher is the author of The Skin and Its Girl (Ballantine), a Stonewall Honor Book also shortlisted for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. She holds an MFA from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, where she was a Rona Jaffe Graduate Creative Writing Fellow in Fiction. Her writing has appeared in The Rumpus, the Washington Post, Lit Hub, Electric Literature, Mizna, North American Review, and others. She was a 2026 Bread Loaf Fellow in Fiction, and her work has also received support from the Headlands Center for the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, and others. She currently serves as the executive director of RAWI, which means “storyteller” in Arabic and gathers writers of SWANA kinship through a biannual conference, year-round programming, and opportunities for support. She grew up in a Lebanese family near Pittsburgh and now lives in Austin, Texas, with her wife.