Fin Leary Lavoie

Fin Lavoie (he/they) (publishes under the byline Fin Leary) is an award-winning Boston-based “Swiss army knife” of publishing and a fiction author.

Fin is currently a Program Manager for the literary nonprofit We Need Diverse Books and a Collection Development Specialist at Bookshare. Fin is a 2024 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ+ Writer Fellow for Young Adult Fiction. His fiction is being published in two forthcoming fantasy and science fiction anthologies published by Owlcrate Press (2025 and 2026) and edited by Robin Alvarez. He also teaches graduate and undergrad courses in the Publishing, Literature, and Writing department at Emerson College, and is a book reviewer for Booklist. Fin has also led workshops, keynotes, and training sessions for ACES: The Society for Editing, the Bisexual Resource Center, Brookline Booksmith, Accessing Higher Ground, Bravery Magazine, Everyday Feminism, Bookbuilders of Boston, the Editorial Freelancers Association, and more. His journalism has been included in a number of syllabi for undergraduate and graduate-level courses, including in the Simmons University MFA in Writing for Children.

Fin’s goal as a publishing professional is to amplify marginalized voices across all aspects of the industry. He was awarded a 2017 Bookbuilders of Boston scholarship for his commitment to this work. He was a judge for the 2020 New England Book Show, assisting with the inclusion of categories for accessibility, diversity in young adult literature, and diversity in children’s literature. He was also the communications lead for the virtual Everywhere Book Fest. Fin is also a sensitivity/authenticity reader (specializing primarily in LGBTQIA+ and disability representation) and you can contact him with projects up to full-length book manuscripts. Fin has completed sensitivity reads and developmental/copyediting for clients such as Penguin Random House, OwlCrate, HarperCollins, Sourcebooks, DC, Bravery Magazine, CAKE Literary/Electric Postcard Entertainment, and more, as well as directly for authors and journalists.

His work has been consistently featured in Top 10 best national lists, and HelloGiggles named his essay as one of their staff favorites. His essay about grief and shaving was featured on Cosmopolitan’s Snapchat in July 2016.

Fin’s work has been published in the anthology About Us edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Prevention, The Oprah Magazine, Boston Globe Magazine, Bitch, Refinery29, Good Housekeeping, The Week, Seventeen, HuffPost, Healthline, Quartz, Marie Claire, Vice, Chicago Tribune, The Rumpus, Narratively, Allure, Racked, Bustle, TalkPoverty, The Establishment, Everyday Feminism, HelloGiggles, Bust, Redbook, Woman’s Day, Brooklyn Magazine, Ravishly, YourTango, Culture: the word on cheese, Rooted in Rights, and more.

Fin has a BA in professional writing from Westfield State University, where he was honored as a 2016 notable alumni, a Celeste and John Loughman fellow, and a Commonwealth honors scholar; and an MA in publishing from Emerson College, where he was recognized as a Dean’s Fellow.

Fin lives in Massachusetts with his wife; their literary cats Blue, Gansey, and Kyo; and a rainbow bookshelf.

Fin Lavoie, a white transgender man with brown hair and blue eyes, standing in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is wearing a white shirt, a brown vest, and brown plaid pants.

Some of Fin’s current and former freelance clients include OurShelves book subscription box, OwlCrate, DC Entertainment, HarperCollins, Sourcebooks, Ubisoft, Inevitable Foundation, Kevin Anderson & Associates, CAKE Literary/Electric Postcard Entertainment, Disability & Philanthropy Forum, Equally Wed Magazine, Spoon University, ABC Life Literacy Canada, Disability Rights Washington, Healthline, Greatist, Bravery Magazine, Her Campus Media, AgoraPulse, Propriometrics Press, Tell Tell Poetry, Everyday Feminism, Shopify, The Food Network, Bustle Digital Group, Samsonite, American Tourister, Bust, Grateful & Co., Rue La La, Conscious Culture Publishing, Womenade Boston, Charlesbridge Publishing, and Habitat for Humanity.

SHORT BIO

Fin Lavoie (byline Leary) is a program manager at We Need Diverse Books, a reviewer at Booklist, and a faculty member at Emerson College, where he teaches in the Writing, Literature, and Publishing department. Fin is a 2024 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ+ Writer Fellow for Young Adult Fiction. His fiction is being published in two forthcoming fantasy and science fiction anthologies published by Owlcrate Press (2025 and 2026) and edited by Robin Alvarez. His work has been published in the anthology About Us edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, as well as the New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Refinery29, The Boston Globe Magazine, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Cosmopolitan, The Oprah Magazine, Vice, Bitch, Teen Vogue, Healthline, and more. Fin lives with his wife, their three literary cats, and a rainbow bookshelf outside of Boston, MA.

IMAGE DESCRIPTIONS

Fin Lavoie, a white transgender man with brown hair and blue eyes, standing in a botanic garden. He is wearing a black shirt, a colorful vest, and black pants.

Fin Lavoie, a white transgender man with brown hair and blue eyes, standing in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is wearing a white shirt, a brown vest, and brown plaid pants.

An illustration of Fin Lavoie, a white transgender man with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a white shirt, a light purple vest, and a rainbow bow tie.