About Maya
Novelist of recall, rootedness, and the steady nerve to start afresh.
A Chronicler of Inner Landscapes
Maya Linden leads the New York Times bestseller ranking with five widely praised novels. Celebrated for radiant sentences and deep emotional range, she composes literary fiction around the hushed puzzles of recall, selfhood, rootedness, and the unseen ties that form us.
Rendered into twenty-three languages, her books have gathered major distinctions including the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Hemingway Award. They appear on university syllabi, divide book circles in the best way, and pass from friend to friend.
She makes her home in the Pacific Northwest alongside her family and one strong-willed cat, drafting each morning before daylight settles its intentions.
- 2015
The Far Valley arrives and takes the PEN/Hemingway Award for first fiction. The Atlantic hails “a debut of remarkable assurance.”
- 2017
A Field of Small Fires sweeps reading circles, holding twenty-two weeks on regional charts.
- 2019
Saltwater Hymn reaches the National Book Critics Circle Award shortlist and eleven translations.
- 2021
Hollow Creek Light claims the National Book Critics Circle Award. Seminars take up Linden’s “architecture of silence.”
- 2023
The Salt House lands on three national best-of-the-year rosters and is optioned for the screen.
- 2026
Wings Like Dust opens at #1 on the New York Times ranking and joins the National Book Award finalists.
#1 NYT Bestseller
Wings Like Dust opened at #1 and remained nineteen weeks on the chart.
NBCC Award
Recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Hollow Creek Light.
PEN/Hemingway
Holder of the PEN/Hemingway Award for first fiction.
WINGS LIKEDUST
Start with the newest novel
Wings Like Dust
One letter. A household’s buried history. The book reviewers deem Linden’s most vital — a #1 New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist.