Marjorie M. Liu is an American ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' best-selling author and comic book writer. She is acclaimed for her horror fantasy comic '' Monstress'', and her paranormal romance and

urban fantasy Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, placing supernatural elements in a contemporary urban area, urban-affected setting. The combination provides the writer with a platform for classic fantasy tropes, quixotic plot-elements, and unusual charac ...

novels including ''The Hunter Kiss'' and ''Tiger Eye'' series. Her work for Marvel Comics includes '' NYX'', ''

X-23 Laura Kinney (designation X-23) is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Wolverine (character), Wolverine, whose codename she has also used, and the X-Men. The characte ...

'', ''

Dark Wolverine Akihiro is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Akihiro was created by writer Daniel Way and artist Steve Dillon and first appeared in '' Wolverine: Origins'' #5 (August 2006). Akihiro is the mutan ...

'', and ''

Astonishing X-Men ''Astonishing X-Men'' is the name of four X-Men comic book series from Marvel Comics, the first two of which were Limited series (comics), limited series. The third volume, an ongoing series, began in 2004 in comics, 2004, with its first run writt ...

''. In 2015 Image Comics debuted her creator-owned series ''Monstress'', for which she was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best New Series. In 2017 she won a Hugo Award for the first ''Monstress'' trade paperback collection. In July 2018 she became the first woman in the 30-year history of the

Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

to win the Eisner Award for Best Writer for her work on ''Monstress''.

Early life

Marjorie M. Liu was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and grew up in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

.Liu, Marjorie M
"About the Author"
marjoriemliu.com, accessed December 29, 2010. Her father is Taiwanese, while her mother is an American of French, Scottish and Irish descent. She developed an early love of reading, from books such as

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, teacher, and journalist. She is best known as the author of the children's book series ''Little House on the Prairie'', published between 1932 and 1 ...

's ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adulthood in the Midwestern United States, Americ ...

'' books, and the works of

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of t ...

Charles de Lint Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer. Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, contemporary magical realism, and mythic fiction. Along with authors like Terri Windling, Emma Bull ...

and

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

.White, Claire E
"A Conversation With Marjorie M. Liu"
The Internet Writing Journal, accessed December 29, 2010. Liu majored in East Asian Languages and Cultures and minored in

Biomedical Ethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, medi ...

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a Private college, private liberal arts college and Music school, conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second colle ...

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton () is the county seat of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, with small portions extending into Calumet County, Wisconsin, Calumet and Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago counties. Located on the Fox River (Green Bay tributary ...

. During her undergraduate years, she practiced her web design skills by designing a fan site called ''The Wolverine and Jubilee page'', after her discovery of numerous X-Men fan sites that she admired. Although she had never read comic books as a child, she was familiar with the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

through the animated TV series and via

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...

. She first purchased ''X-Men'' and ''

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

'' comics for reference for her fanfic from Powerhouse Comics in

. Writing fanfic helped her improve her storytelling skills.Press, David
"INTERVIEW: Marjorie Liu talks 'Dark Wolverine' and 'Darkness Calls'."
, Daily Planet, June 23, 2009 After graduating, she attended law school at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, as she was impressed with their East Asian legal center, and the presence of top U.S. experts in Biotech Law on the University's faculty. She found an internship in Beijing working at the Foreign Agriculture Service at the U.S. Embassy, which at the time, was dealing with the Chinese government's new rules regarding the import of genetically modified food. She graduated in May 2003, and was soon admitted to the bar.

Career

Despite enjoying law school, Liu was disillusioned with the life of a lawyer. Instead she decided to become a writer. She published poetry, short stories, and non-fiction pieces, then submitted her first novel, a paranormal romantic adventure set in China and the United States entitled ''Tiger Eye''. She wrote it in one month. She submitted it to several publishers before it was acquired by Dorchester, and published in November 2007. She wrote a sequel to ''Tiger Eye'', then produced ''A Taste of Crimson'', the sequel to Liz Maverick's ''Crimson City'', which was published in August 2005. After seeing a little boy dressed as

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

at a book convention in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, Liu told her former literary agent Lucienne Diver that she would enjoy writing for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. Diver, who knew a Marvel acquisition editor seeking authors for Marvel tie-in novels at

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first Paperback#Mass market paperback, mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and ...

, made inquiries. Pocket had already hired enough authors for the ''Spider-Man'' books, but they had not hired anyone to write tie-in novels for the ''X-Men''. Liu produced the ''

'' novel ''Dark Mirror'' for Pocket in 2005, but it was three years before that she landed her first comics assignment at Marvel, the ''X-Men'' spin-off '' NYX''. She served as co-writer on Marvel's '' Daken: Dark Wolverine'' with

Daniel Way Daniel Way (born December 27, 1974) is an American comic book writer, known for his work on Marvel Comics series such as '' Wolverine: Origins'' and ''Deadpool'', as well as the ''Deadpool'' video game. Career Way received the Xeric Grant in 20 ...

, and wrote the ''

'' series, which ended with #21. Liu wrote the final 21 issues for Marvel's ''

'' series with artist Mike Perkins from 2012 to 2013. The series received media attention for featuring Marvel Comics' first gay wedding between

Northstar Northstar may refer to: * Polaris, a star Arts and entertainment * Northstar (band), an emo band from Alabama * Northstar (rap group), a rap group affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan * "Northstar", a 2019 song by XXXTentacion from the album '' Bad ...

and longterm partner Kyle in issue #51 (August 2012). According to Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Axel Alonso, the issue comes as a response to real-world legalization of same sex marriage in New York. Liu was nominated for a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

in 2013. In 2015, Liu taught a course at MIT on comic book writing and participated at the VONA/VOICES Workshop as guest lecturer at UC Berkeley for popular fiction. In 2015 Image Comics debuted Liu's comics series, '' Monstress'', which gained wide publicity for its exploration of racism, the effects of war, and feminism. In July 2018 Liu became the first woman in the 30-year history of the

to win the Eisner Award for Best Writer for her work on ''Monstress''. She shared the award with writer Tom King, who received it for his work on ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' books and ''

Mister Miracle Mister Miracle is the name of three fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first and third are humans Thaddeus Brown and Shilo Norman, while the second is New God Scott Free. The Scott Free incarnat ...

''.

Personal life

As of December 2012, Liu had been in a relationship with author

Junot Díaz Junot Díaz ( ; born December 31, 1968) is a Dominican American writer, creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a former fiction editor at '' Boston Review''. Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience ...

and living with him in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

Writings

Novels

Dirk & Steele series

Hunter Kiss

= Other novels

= * ''A Taste of Crimson: Crimson City, Book 2'' (2005) * ''X-Men: Dark Mirror'' (2005)

Short fiction

Comics

*'' NYX: No Way Home'' #1 - 6 (

, 2008–2009) *''

'' #75 - 90 (co-written with

, Marvel Comics, 2009–2010) *''

'' Vol. 2 #1- Women of Marvel one-shot (Marvel Comics, 2010) *'' Black Widow'' Vol. 4 #1 - 5 (Marvel Comics, 2010) *''Girl Comics'' #3 (Wolverine & Jubilee story only, Marvel Comics, 2010) *''Wolverine: Road to Hell'' - one-shot (Marvel Comics, 2010) *'' Daken: Dark Wolverine'' #1 - 9 (co-written with Daniel Way, Marvel Comics, 2010–2011) (continuation of ''Dark Wolverine'') *''

'' Vol. 3 #1 - 21 (Marvel Comics, 2010–2012) *''Jim Henson's Storyteller'' ("Puss in Boots", Archaia, 2013) *''

'' Vol. 3 #48 - #68, (Marvel Comics, 2012–2013) *''X-Termination'' #1 (Marvel Comics, 2013) *''X-Treme X-Men'' Vol. 2 #13 (Marvel Comics, 2013) *''Legends of Red Sonja #4'' (Dynamite, 2014) *'' Monstress'' (Image Comics, 2015-) *''Star Wars: Han Solo'' (Marvel Comics, 2016) *''

The Night Eaters ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' ( Abrams, 2022-2025)

Nonfiction

* "Ghost" in ''The Secret Lives of Geek Girls'' (2015) edited by Hope Nicholson

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
The Wolverine and Jubilee Page
accessed December 29, 2010. — Fan site designed by Marjorie Liu. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Marjorie Living people 21st-century American novelists American women novelists American women writers of Chinese descent American writers of Taiwanese descent American writers of Chinese descent American romantic fiction writers American novelists of Asian descent American people of French descent American people of Irish descent American people of Scottish descent Fan fiction writers Hugo Award–winning writers Marvel Comics writers American lawyers American women lawyers American women romantic fiction writers 21st-century American women writers Lawrence University alumni Eisner Award winners for Best Writer American female comics artists Year of birth missing (living people) Image Comics writers