Kaja Marie Foglio (born January 12, 1970) is a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

-based writer, artist, and publisher. Foglio co-won the first

Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story or Comic is given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories told in graphic form and published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. It has been awarded annually since 2009. P ...

in 2009 for ''

Girl Genius ''Girl Genius'' is an ongoing comic book series turned webcomic, written and drawn by Phil Foglio, Phil and Kaja Foglio and published by their company Studio Foglio LLC under the Imprint (trade name), imprint Airship Entertainment. The comic wo ...

, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones'', a series which went on to win two more Hugo Awards.

Biography

Early life and education

Born Kaja Murphy in Bellevue, Washington, Kaja was raised in Kirkland, Washington. She graduated from

Juanita High School Juanita High School (JHS) is a high school / secondary school in Kirkland, King County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. It is administered by Lake Washington School District (LWSD). History and facilitie ...

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...

in 1988. She attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, where she was heavily involved with the local chapter of the

Society for Creative Anachronism The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an international living history group with the aim of studying and recreating mainly Medieval European cultures and their histories before the 17th century. A quip often used within the SCA describes ...

. She graduated from the University of Washington, and she married

Phil Foglio Philip Peter Foglio (born May 1, 1956) is an American cartoonist and comic book artist known for his humorous science fiction and fantasy art. Early life and career Foglio was born on May 1, 1956, in Mount Vernon, New York, and moved with his fa ...

in 1993.

Career

Kaja, with Phil, founded Studio Foglio, LLC in 1995. The studio became the venue for her art prints, many of which have been produced as cards for '' Magic: The Gathering''. Kaja Foglio co-writes and illustrates the

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

'' with Phil Foglio. She coined the term "gaslamp fantasy" to describe its genre of 19th century ahistorical fantasy. She serves as the chief graphic designer and webmaster for the Studio Foglio and Airship Entertainment websites. Foglio also contributes to other projects, including providing the illustrations

Barry Hughart Barry Hughart (March 13, 1934 – August 1, 2019) was an American author of fantasy novels. Background Hughart was born in Peoria, Illinois on March 13, 1934. His father, John Harding Page, served as a naval officer. His mother, Veronica ...

's anthology of ''

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox Barry Hughart (March 13, 1934 – August 1, 2019) was an American author of fantasy novels. Background Hughart was born in Peoria, Illinois on March 13, 1934. His father, John Harding Page, served as a naval officer. His mother, Veronica ...

''. In 2009 the Foglios and their colorist, Cheyenne Wright, won the first

, for ''Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones''. In 2010, 2011 they won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story again. Having won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story for three years running, Kaja, Phil, and Cheyenne announced that, in order to show that the category was a "viable award", they refused nomination for the following year (2012).

Works illustrated

* ''Cat on the Dovrefjell'' (1997) * ''

'' (1998) * '' Magic: The Gathering'' trading cards * ''

Shadowfist ''Shadowfist'' is a card game created by Robin Laws and Jose Garcia. It was released in June 1995 as a collectible card game (CCG), but was shifted to a fixed distribution of cards as of 2013. It shares the same background as ''Feng Shui'', a ...

'' trading cards

Works co-authored

* '' What's New with Phil and Dixie'' (1999) (OCLC ) * ''

'' series (1995-ongoing). comprising 23 graphic novels, each titled ''Agatha Heterodyne and the ...'', and 4 prose novels, each titled ''Agatha H and the ...''.

References

External links

Girl Genius: Adventure, Romance, MAD SCIENCE!

The Biblio-File: Audio interview with Phil and Kaja Foglio; January 27, 2008

List of Magic the Gathering cards illustrated by Kaja Foglio

Kaja Foglio's Live Journal

Cat on the Dovrefjell
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foglio, Kaja 1970 births Living people American webcomic creators Comic book publishers (people) American female comics artists American female comics writers American game artists Writers from Kirkland, Washington Writers from Seattle Hugo Award–winning writers Steampunk writers University of Washington alumni