MariNaomi

MariNaomi (they/them) is the author and illustrator of the SPACE Award-winning graphic memoir Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22 (Harper Perennial, 2011), the Eisner-nominated Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories (2dcloud/Uncivilized Books, 2014), Turning Japanese (2dcloud, 2016; Extended edition Oni Press, 2023), I Thought YOU Hated ME (Retrofit Comics, 2016), the Life on Earth trilogy (Graphic Universe, 2018-2020), Dirty Produce (Workman Publishing, 2021), and I Thought You Loved Me (Fieldmouse Press, 2023). Their work has appeared in approximately 100 print publications and has been featured on websites such as The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, The Washington Post, LA Times, The Rumpus, LA Review of Books, Midnight Breakfast, SF Examiner, and BuzzFeed. Their comics have been translated into French (Devenir Japonaise, Editions IMHO, 2021), German, Russian, and Japanese. Their next graphic novel, THEY, is forthcoming with Little Brown Ink, a collaboration with cartoonist Trung Le Nguyen.

MariNaomi’s comics and paintings have been featured in the Smithsonian, the de Young Museum, the Cartoon Art Museum, the Asian Art Museum, and the Japanese American National Museum.

In 2011 and 2018, Mari toured with the literary roadshow Sister Spit. They founded the Cartoonists of Color, Queer Cartoonists, and Disabled Cartoonists databases (2014-2025)

Mari taught classes for the California College of the Arts Comics MFA program, was guest editor for PEN Illustrated, cohosted the Ask Bi Grlz podcast with author Myriam Gurba, and served as the California Chapter Leader of Authors Against Book Bans.

MariNaomi splits their time between the San Francisco Bay Area and Nagoya, Japan.

(Website: marinaomi.com)