Yao Xiao is a cartoonist and illustrator living in New York. Her debut graphic novel, Everything Is Beautiful, And I’m Not Afraid was published by Andrews McMeel in 2020 and has received praise by Publishers Weekly and Ms. Magazine. Her debut children’s book How To Solve A Problem, written by Ashima Shiraishi and published by Penguin Random House received a starred review on Kirkus. She has been publishing Baopu, a serialized comic on Autostraddle since 2014 and has been featured on Buzzfeed and The Washington Post as guest cartoonist. Her work has been nominated for the Ignatz Award and recognized by the Society of Illustrators.

 As a freelance illustrator, her work has been featured in TIME Magazine, Buzzfeed, Vice, Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, National Geographic, School Library Journal and the Wall Street Journal among others. She is the illustrator to create Katy Perry’s album cover for “Dark Horse.” Yao has shown her work at galleries in New York, San Francisco and Seattle. 

Yao Xiao is a MacDowell Fellow Fellow. She holds a BFA in illustration from the School of Visual Arts and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hunter College.
 

Awards and Recognition

2024 MacDowell Fellowship

2021 Lambda Literary Award Finalist 

2020 Publishers Weekly Best Books 2020

2018 Ignatz Award Finalist

2016 Society of Illustrators Comic and Cartoon Art Annual Winner

2015 Society of Illustrators Annual 57

2015 American Illustration 33

2014 Society of Illustrators Annual 56 

2014 American Illustration 32