Short, third-person bio: Isabel Yap writes fiction and poetry, works in the tech industry, and drinks tea. Born and raised in Manila, she has lived in the US since 2010. She holds a BS in Marketing from Santa Clara University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Her debut story collection, Never Have I Ever, was published in 2021 by Small Beer Press and won the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection. Her work has been a finalist for the Ignyte, Locus, Crawford, and World Fantasy Awards, and has appeared in venues including Lithub and Year’s Best Weird Fiction. She is @visyap on Twitter and her website is https://isabelyap.com.

Longer bio:

I was born in Manila, Philippines, and grew up in Quezon City. I attended Ateneo de Manila University from 2008-2010, where I served as English Editor for the Heights Literary folio my sophomore year. I was a poetry fellow at the 14th Ateneo-Heights Writers Workshop and the 10th UST National Writers Workshop.

I moved to the US in 2010, and in 2013 I graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Marketing and minors in Japanese Studies and English. At SCU I was awarded the Tamara Verga Academy of American Poets Prize. That same year, I attended the Clarion Writers Workshop in San Diego. I served on the board of the Clarion Foundation from 2016-2023, and continue to volunteer.

Since 2013, I’ve worked full-time in the tech industry, most recently in the product management function. In 2020 I received an MBA from Harvard Business School. My professional experience includes work in mobile and web apps, early-stage startups, marketplaces, and e-commerce. I enjoy building customer-centric, beautifully-designed products with great teams.

Since leaving the Philippines, I’ve spent the most time in the California Bay Area. I’ve also lived in Tokyo for a semester, London for a year, Boston for two years of graduate school, and Pittsburgh for a summer internship. I am currently based in New York City.

I once almost slid off the muddy face of Mt. Makiling and plummeted to my doom.

I like to write all kinds of things, especially short fiction and poetry. My writing has been nominated for the Locus Award, long-listed for the Hugo Awards and BSFA, published in anthologies including The Year’s Best Weird Fiction and The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, and appeared in venues including Tor.com, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Interfictions Online, and Lithub. In 2021, I was a fellow for poetry at the Tin House Summer Workshop, and received a residency to the KHN Center for the Arts.

My debut short story collection, Never Have I Ever, is available now from Small Beer Press. It received a starred review from Booklist, was included in Electric Lit’s list of 43 Books by Women of Color to Read in 2021 curated by R.O. Kwon, and was called “captivating…ambiguous, dark, and vivid” by Buzzfeed. It has won the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection, and been a finalist for the Crawford, Locus, Ignyte, and World Fantasy Awards. I would be deeply grateful if you got a copy and spread the word.

I enjoy sharing what I know as a working author. I was a visiting writer at Eastern Washington University’s MFA Program, a Speculative Guest Lecturer at Antioch MFA’s 2022 December Residency, and with Alyssa Wong, was part of the two-week anchor team at the 2024 Clarion Writers Workshop. If you’d like me to do a classroom visit, just reach out!

I’ve also written over a hundred fics for more than thirty fandoms. I haven’t written too many lately, but I pop up every now and then if I think a story needs telling.

I am currently working on my first novel. It’s been slow going, but I’m hopeful to share this story with you all in due time. (And because I know ideally this information is easy to find: no, I do not currently have a literary agent.)

I like nice people, ugly dogs, flavored soymilk lattes, music, tea, hard lemonade, and ramen.

If you would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee, check out my publications, or consider making a donation to the Clarion Writers Workshop.  Contributions to Clarion are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law; you are also supporting the career of a speculative fiction writer, and helping to build community. Thank you!