From 2008 until 2010, Larson and O'Malley lived in
Asheville, North Carolina. They relocated to
Los Angeles, California.[2] She and O'Malley divorced in 2014.[3] She returned to Asheville, where she currently[when?] lives.[4]
Career
While Larson was in college,
Scott McCloud took an interest in her illustrations, encouraging her to create
comics. Soon after, she was invited to the
webcomics anthology site
Girlamatic and produced her first professional comic, a web serial entitled I Was There & Just Returned.[5] Afterwards, Larson concentrated on a number of small, hand-made
minicomics, combining her interests in comics, screenprinting, and bookmaking.
She contributed to
comics anthologiesFlight, True Porn 2, and You Ain't No Dancer, while working on a web-serialized graphic novel, Salamander Dream. This eventually became her first full-length book, published by
AdHouse Books in September 2005; she moved to
Oni Press for her second graphic novel, Gray Horses (released March 2006).
In 2006, Larson signed a two-book contract with New York publishing house
Simon & Schuster. The first book under this deal, Chiggers (released June 18, 2008, under the
Atheneum BooksGinee Seo imprint),[6] is a graphic novel about "nerdy teenaged girls" who meet at summer camp. Chiggers is intended for a 9- to 12-year-old audience.[7]
In 2012, Larson adapted
Madeleine L'Engle's work as A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel, published by Margaret Ferguson Books (a Farrar Straus Giroux imprint).[8]
In 2016, Larson became the new writer for
DC ComicsBatgirl,[9] a run that saw the character go on back-packing trip through Asia on a voyage of self-discovery.[10]
In addition to comics, Larson has worked as a freelance illustrator for various clients, including the New York Times.
Larson's book All Summer Long was released by Farrar Straus Giroux in the spring of 2018.[11]
Publishing
In 2006, Larson launched her own publishing imprint,
Tulip Tree Press. She has released several minicomics and prints through the Tulip Tree website;[12] the only book released under the Tulip Tree name was
House of Sugar, an award-winning collection of
Rebecca Kraatz's comic strip, released 15 November 2006.[13]
Acclaim
Larson was nominated for the 2006
Kim Yale Award for Best New Female Talent, and won the 2006
Ignatz Award in the category Promising New Talent.[14] In 2007, Larson won the
Eisner Award for Special Recognition (formerly known as "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition").[15] She won the Eisner Award again in 2012 for her A Wrinkle in Time adaptation.[16]
Rebecca Kraatz's House of Sugar, Larson's first publishing venture, won the 2007
Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent.[17]
All Summer Long was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2018.[18]