Yao Xiao is a writer and artist based in New York City. They are the author of graphic novel Everything Is Beautiful, And I’m Not Afraid, a Lambda Literary Award Finalist. They are a contributor to the New Yorker.
Xiao’s has published works in The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, Catapult, Literary Hub, Electric Literature, F(r)iction, Passages North, and Autostraddle. Their work has been recognized and supported by the Ignatz Award, a Define American Fellowship, and a Think!Chinatown Artist Residency. They hold an M.F.A. in creative writing from Hunter College.
At MacDowell, Xiao worked on the manuscript for a book of essays about nostalgia, memory, and the experience of being an immigrant artist from China. Essays from this collection won the Ray Ventre Nonfiction Prize from Passages North, F(r)iction
Nonfiction Contest in 2023, and were published in Literary Hub and Electric Literature.
