Steven Rowley

Steven Rowley is an American novelist educated at Emerson College. He wrote his debut, Lily and the Octopus (2016), a magical-realist novel about a man and his aging dachshund's battle with a metaphorical (and literal) octopus, as a way of processing his own dog's death, completing the manuscript in 100 days after it began as a short story. The novel became a bestseller and led to a string of further novels, including The Guncle (2021), a comedy about a gay former sitcom star suddenly caring for his niece and nephew, and its sequel The Guncle Abroad (2024). Rowley's fiction consistently uses comedy and light fantastical touches to approach grief, chosen family, and unconventional caregiving.