G. Willow Wilson

Gwendolyn Willow Wilson (born August 31, 1982) is an American comics writer, prose author, and essayist. Her work is most often categorized as magical realism.

Wilson's prose works include the novels Alif the Unseen (2012), which won the 2013 World Fantasy Award for "Novel", and The Bird King (2019). She was one of the lead creators in the relaunch of the Ms. Marvel title for Marvel Comics and co-creator of its starring character Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Muslim superhero. Wilson was the writer on the Ms. Marvel series from February 2014 to February 2019; the first volume won the 2015 Hugo Award for "Best Graphic Story". , Wilson has been the writer on the ongoing Poison Ivy series for DC Comics. Her original comic series include the Invisible Kingdom (2019–2021) for Dark Horse Comics, which won the 2020 Eisner Award for "Best New Series", and The Hunger and the Dusk (2023–2026) for IDW Publishing, which was a finalist for the 2025 Hugo Award for "Best Graphic Story or Comic".

Early life Wilson was born on August 31, 1982, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and grew up in Morganville. Wilson lived in the county until she was 12. However, in an interview with Newsrama in 2013, she erroneously said she was born in Morris County and spent the first ten years of her life there. Her parents were atheists who renounced Protestantism in the late 1960s, Two years later she and her family moved to Boulder, Colorado, where Wilson continued to pursue her interest in comics and other forms of popular culture such as tabletop role-playing games.

Converting to Islam After high school, Wilson attended Boston University to pursue a degree in history. During her sophomore year, Wilson began experiencing adrenal problems and the associated discomfort resulted in her studying a number of religions, including Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. After studying Judaism she focused on Islam, which appealed to her because "to become a Muslim is sort of a deal between you and God." The 9/11 terrorist attack set back her religious studies – fearing she had misjudged the religion – but she later resumed her studies. She was also a regular contributor to the now-defunct Egyptian opposition weekly Cairo Magazine. Wilson was the first Western journalist to be granted a private interview with Ali Gomaa after his promotion to the position of Grand Mufti of Egypt. Additionally, Wilson released a memoir titled The Butterfly Mosque about life in Egypt during the Mubarak regime, which was named a Seattle Times Best Book of 2010.

Cairo, Air, and Alif the Unseen (2007–2013) Her first graphic novel, Cairo, with art by M.K. Perker, was published by Vertigo in 2007, The paperback edition of Cairo was named one of Best Graphic Novels for High School Students in 2008 by School Library Journal, and one of 2009's Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens by the American Library Association.

Her first ongoing comic series, Air, launched by Vertigo in 2008 reunited her with Perker, and was nominated for an Eisner Award for 'Best New Series' of 2009. NPR named Air one of the top comics of 2009, and it also received acclaim from the Fairfield Weekly, Comic Book Resources, Marie Claire, and Library Journal. Other works for DC include fill-in issues #704 and 706 of Superman, the five-issue mini-series Vixen: Return of the Lion, starring the Justice League member Vixen with art by CAFU, and The Outsiders.

Wilson then wrote Mystic (2011), a four-issue miniseries for Marvel Comics with art by David Lopez. Although a CrossGen revival, Willow's Mystic bears little resemblance to its previous incarnation.

Her debut novel Alif the Unseen (Grove/Atlantic) won the 2013 World Fantasy Award for best novel.

Kamala Khan, A-Force and Wonder Woman (2014–2019) In 2014, Marvel debuted a new Ms. Marvel series written by Wilson. Wilson had already had a few forays into the comic book industry, having worked on titles such as Superman and Vixen previously. She received an email for an interview with David Gabriel, a senior vice-president at Marvel Entertainment. While creating Kamala as a character the duo expected negativity, not just from people who were anti-Muslim, but also from Muslims who believed Kamala should be portrayed in a certain way. The crafting also focused on smaller details: Wilson did not believe Kamala should wear a hijab due to a majority of teenage Muslim American girls not wearing them. Others even viewed Kamala as a symbol for equality and representation among different religions.

Wilson was then brought on to write the 4 issue "The Burning World" arc for the fourth volume of the ongoing X-Men series in 2015; Wilson was the "first female writer to work on X-Men" since the relaunch "with an all-female X-Men roster". X-Men was not continued during the post-Secret Wars publishing initiative All-New, All-Different Marvel. In May 2015, Marvel launched the limited series A-Force as part of the Secret Wars (2015) event storyline. The series, co-written by Wilson and Marguerite Bennett and drawn by Jorge Molina, features Marvel's first all-female team of Avengers. In 2016, Wilson returned as co-writer, this time with Kelly Thompson, for the first arc of the second volume of A-Force as part of Marvel's All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative.

A second volume of Ms. Marvel, starring Kamala and written by Wilson, also debuted as part of Marvel's All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative. Ms. Marvel #31—the 50th issue of Ms. Marvel featuring Kamala—was published in June 2018. To mark the occasion, Marvel brought in additional collaborators for the issue: writers Saladin Ahmed, Rainbow Rowell, and Hasan Minhaj, and artists Nico Leon, Bob Quinn, Gustavo Duarte, and Elmo Bondoc. Wilson finished writing the series with issue #38 in February 2019.

In November 2018, Wilson began writing Wonder Woman from DC Comics with issue #58. The character battles Ares in an arc entitled "The Just War." In August 2019, Wilson announced that she was leaving the series; her final issue was #81 in October 2019.

The Bird King, Invisible Kingdom and Poison Ivy (2019–present) Wilson's fantasy novel The Bird King was released in March 2019 by Grove Press. The story concerns the flight of Fatima and Hassan, a concubine and mapmaker, respectively, from service to the Emirate of Granada's last sultan. Also in March 2019, Wilson and artist Christian Ward debuted a new creator-owned series titled Invisible Kingdom which was published by Dark Horse's Berger Books imprint. It won the 2020 Eisner Award for Best New Series; Wilson was nominated for Best Writer for her work on both the Invisible Kingdom and Ms. Marvel. The first ten issues were released as individual issues. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Invisible Kingdom switched to an original graphic novel format to finish the series.

Academic David Higgins, in 2020 for the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, wrote that "Wilson is one of the preeminent fantastic creators of our contemporary moment", noting that she "is a skilled, accomplished, and award-winning author". In 2020, Wilson wrote the final two issues of The Dreaming from DC Comics, with art by Nick Robles; the series is part of The Sandman Universe. Wilson and Robles then created the 12-issue limited series The Dreaming: Waking Hours.

A miniseries starring Poison Ivy was announced by DC Comics in March 2022 as part of the publisher's "Pride Month" initiative. Poison Ivy was originally intended to be a six-issue miniseries written by Wilson with art by Marcio Takara. The first issue was published in June 2022, with subsequent issues published monthly. In August 2022, DC Comics announced that the miniseries would be extended by an additional six issues, with Atagun Ilhan joining Takara in illustrating the second arc. In February 2023, DC Comics announced that the miniseries would be further expanded into an ongoing series.

In April 2023, IDW announced Wilson and artist Chris Wildgoose as the creators of a new original ongoing series titled The Hunger and the Dusk. Six issues were released between July 2023 and February 2024. The first book of The Hunger and the Dusk was a 2025 Hugo Award finalist for Best Graphic Story or Comic. However, in January 2025, IDW announced that "due to unforeseen delays in the book's production", issues #4–6 were canceled as individual print comics and would instead be released in the trade paperback collection for the second book. This collection was released in July 2026; issues #4–6 also received individual digital releases.

In 2025, Wilson became the writer for the new ongoing Black Cat series for Marvel Comics, with art by Gleb Melnikov. She contributed a backup story featuring Static and Ms. Marvel in Batman/Deadpool #1 for DC Comics. Also in 2025, Wilson reunited with artist M.K. Perker to write the graphic novel The Stoneshore Register for Berger Books.

Personal life Since 2007, Wilson has lived in Seattle with her husband, Omar. She has two daughters.

Awards Year Work Award Category Result 2009 Air (Vertigo/DC) Eisner Awards Best New Series 2012 Alif the Unseen Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Goodreads Choice Award Fantasy Hammett Prize — 2013 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel Locus Award Best First Novel Women's Prize for Fiction — World Fantasy Award Novel 2015 Harvey Awards Best Writer Harvey Awards Best New Series Hugo Award Best Graphic Story Eisner Awards Best New Series 2016 Eisner Awards Best Writer Ms. Marvel, Volume 2: Generation Why British Fantasy Award Best Comic / Graphic Novel Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics 2017 Ms. Marvel, Volume 5: Super Famous Hugo Award Best Graphic Story or Comic 2019 Ms. Marvel, Volume 9: Teenage WastelandAmerican Book Awards 2020 The Bird King Mythopoeic Award Best Adult Novel Eisner Awards Best Writer Hugo Award Best Graphic Story or Comic 2025 The Hunger and the Dusk: Vol. 1 Hugo Award Best Graphic Story or Comic 2026 The Stoneshore Register Nebula Award Best Comics