A sequel to A Stranger in Olondria, titled The Winged Histories, was published by Small Beer Press in 2016.

[8] Samatar's main literary influences include Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, and Rainer Maria Rilke, as well as Somali mythology.

[8][9] Samatar served as a nonfiction and poetry editor for Interfictions: A Journal of Interstitial Arts.

In 2022, she published her first nonfiction book, The White Mosque, a memoir about a trip to Uzbekistan in search of the followers of fringe religious leader Claas Epp Jr.[1] Samatar's short story "Selkie Stories Are for Losers" was a finalist for both the 2014 Nebula and Hugo Awards for Best Short Story, as well as the British Science Fiction Association Award and the World Fantasy Award.

[13] Samatar's Monster Portraits, a collection of short fiction published in February 2018, was a finalist for the Calvino Prize.