Hope Larson

Hope Raue Larson (b. September 17, 1982, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina) is an American illustrator and cartoonist. Her main field is comic books.

Early life Larson grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, Upon graduation from high school, she matriculated at Rochester Institute of Technology and then transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2004. Afterwards, Larson concentrated on a number of small, hand-made minicomics, combining her interests in comics, screenprinting, and bookmaking.

She contributed to comics anthologies Flight, 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 Books Ginee Seo imprint), is a graphic novel about "nerdy teenaged girls" who meet at summer camp. Chiggers is intended for a 9- to 12-year-old audience.

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). The book was given the 2013 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens.

In 2016, Larson became the new writer for DC Comics Batgirl, a run that saw the character go on back-packing trip through Asia on a voyage of self-discovery.

In addition to comics, Larson has worked as a freelance illustrator for various clients, including the New York Times.

She has worked as a letterer on such books as Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly's Local.

Larson's book All Summer Long was released by Farrar Straus Giroux in the spring of 2018.

Publishing In 2006, Larson launched her own publishing imprint, Tulip Tree Press. She released several minicomics and prints through the Tulip Tree website; 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. Tulip Tree Press shut down in 2008.

Acclaim Larson was nominated for the 2006 Kimberly Yale Award for Best New Female Talent, and won the 2006 Ignatz Award in the category Promising New Talent. In 2007, Larson won the Eisner Award for Special Recognition (formerly known as "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition"). She won the Eisner Award again in 2013 for her A Wrinkle in Time adaptation.

Rebecca Kraatz's House of Sugar, Larson's first publishing venture, won the 2007 Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent.

All Summer Long was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2018.

Personal life In 2004, Larson moved to Toronto with her husband, Canadian cartoonist Bryan Lee O'Malley. In 2005, they moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. From 2008 until 2010, Larson and O'Malley lived in Asheville, North Carolina, later moving to Los Angeles, California. She and O'Malley divorced in 2014.

Works Mainstream comic book work Batgirl, DC Comics, 2016–2018 (writer, with artist Rafael Albuquerque)

Graphic novels Salamander Dream. AdHouse Books, 2005 Gray Horses. Oni Press, 2006 Chiggers. Atheneum Books, 2008 Mercury. Atheneum Books, 2010 A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012 Who is AC (writer, with artist Tintin Pantoja). Atheneum Books, 2013 Four Points series (writer, with artist Rebecca Mock) Compass South, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016 Knife's Edge, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017 Salt Magic (writer, with artist Rebecca Mock), Holiday House (Margaret Ferguson Books), 2021 Be That Way, Holiday House (Margaret Ferguson Books), 2023 Very Bad at Math, HarperAlley, 2025 Goldie Vance (writer, with artist Brittney Williams). Boom! Studios, 2016 Eagle Rock series All Summer Long, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018 All Together Now, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020 All My Friends, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021

Selected short stories and minicomics "Sex Rainbow," March 2004 (originally printed as a deck of cards) "Compound Eye," April 2004 "Weather Vain," August 2004 (originally printed in Flight Vol. 2) "Mud," February 2005 (originally printed in You Ain't No Dancer #1) "Little House in the Big Woods," August 2006 (originally printed in the New York Times) "When I Was A Slut," March 2006 (published in Project: Romantic) "Henry and Elizabeth," July 2007 (printed in the New York Times, and later expanded to a minicomic) "Cosplay," February 2018 (published by Dark Horse Books in Secret Loves of Geeks)