diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/layout.html b/bookwyrm/templates/layout.html
index 6283e61c4..ced4e8006 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/layout.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/layout.html
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
                 <div class="field has-addons">
                     <div class="control">
                         {% if request.user.is_authenticated %}
-                            {% trans "Search for a book, user, or list" as search_placeholder %}
+                            {% trans "Search for a book, author, user, or list" as search_placeholder %}
                         {% else %}
                             {% trans "Search for a book" as search_placeholder %}
                         {% endif %}
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/search/author.html b/bookwyrm/templates/search/author.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d42c3b54f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/search/author.html
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+{% extends 'search/layout.html' %}
+
+{% block panel %}
+
+{% if results %}
+<ul class="block">
+{% for author in results %}
+    <li class="">
+        <a href="{{ author.local_path }}" class="author" itemprop="author" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Thing">
+            <span itemprop="name">{{ author.name }}</span>
+        </a>
+    </li>
+{% endfor %}
+</ul>
+{% endif %}
+
+{% endblock %}
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/search/layout.html b/bookwyrm/templates/search/layout.html
index 8cf47b371..725a4f43f 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/search/layout.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/search/layout.html
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
             <div class="select" aria-label="{% trans 'Search type' %}">
                 <select name="type">
                     <option value="book" {% if type == "book" %}selected{% endif %}>{% trans "Books" %}</option>
+                    <option value="author" {% if type == "author" %}selected{% endif %}>{% trans "Authors" %}</option>
                     {% if request.user.is_authenticated %}
                     <option value="user" {% if type == "user" %}selected{% endif %}>{% trans "Users" %}</option>
                     {% endif %}
@@ -42,6 +43,9 @@
         <li{% if type == "book" %} class="is-active"{% endif %}>
             <a href="{% url 'search' %}?q={{ query }}&type=book">{% trans "Books" %}</a>
         </li>
+        <li{% if type == "author" %} class="is-active"{% endif %}>
+            <a href="{% url 'search' %}?q={{ query }}&type=author">{% trans "Authors" %}</a>
+        </li>
         {% if request.user.is_authenticated %}
         <li{% if type == "user" %} class="is-active"{% endif %}>
             <a href="{% url 'search' %}?q={{ query }}&type=user">{% trans "Users" %}</a>
diff --git a/bookwyrm/views/search.py b/bookwyrm/views/search.py
index f8eddd1a6..e1598056f 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/views/search.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/views/search.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 """ search views"""
+
 import re
 
 from django.contrib.postgres.search import TrigramSimilarity
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ class Search(View):
 
         endpoints = {
             "book": book_search,
+            "author": author_search,
             "user": user_search,
             "list": list_search,
         }
@@ -90,6 +92,31 @@ def book_search(request):
     return TemplateResponse(request, "search/book.html", data)
 
 
+def author_search(request):
+    """search for an author"""
+    query = request.GET.get("q")
+    query = query.strip()
+    data = {"type": "author", "query": query}
+
+    results = (
+        models.Author.objects.annotate(
+            similarity=TrigramSimilarity("name", query),
+        )
+        .filter(
+            similarity__gt=0.1,
+        )
+        .order_by("-similarity")
+    )
+
+    paginated = Paginator(results, PAGE_LENGTH)
+    page = paginated.get_page(request.GET.get("page"))
+    data["results"] = page
+    data["page_range"] = paginated.get_elided_page_range(
+        page.number, on_each_side=2, on_ends=1
+    )
+    return TemplateResponse(request, "search/author.html", data)
+
+
 def user_search(request):
     """user search: search for a user"""
     viewer = request.user