Samira Ahmed (author)

Ahmed was born in Mumbai, India, and grew up in Batavia, Illinois.[1] She has a degree from the University of Chicago, taught high school English for seven years,[1] and worked in nonprofit before publishing her first novel in 2018.[2]

Her young adult debut novel Love, Hate & Other Filters, about a Muslim Indian-American teen filmmaker making plans about her future while dealing with islamophobia, debuted on #8 of the New York Times Young Adult Hardcover bestseller list[3] and received starred reviews from Booklist,[4] Publishers Weekly,[5] and School Library Journal.[6]

Her 2019 sophomore novel Internment, set in near-future America where Muslims are sent to internment camps following a law enacted by the islamophobic president, received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and debuted on the New York Times Young Adult Hardcover bestseller list at #4.[7][8] Internment has been described as one of the "most politically urgent reads of 2019" by Entertainment Weekly.[9] It has also been optioned for film by Gotham Group and Chariot Entertainment prior to its release.[10]

Ahmed made her comics writing debut with Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit; it was illustrated by Andrés Genolet and published by Marvel Comics.[11][12] The limited series ran for five issues from December 2021 to April 2022.[13][14] Entertainment Weekly highlighted that "Ms. Marvel comics have only been written by Muslim writers so far [...]. But Samira Ahmed will be the first South Asian female writer to write a Ms. Marvel series".[11] Avery Kaplan, in her review of Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit for The Beat, wrote that "Beyond the Limit was a fun and interesting story that went to some unexpected places, all while allowing Kamala plenty of time to shine (and to make a lot of funny food jokes)".[15] The trade paperback collecting the five issues was published in June 2022 – Bleeding Cool commented that this coincides with the premiere of the Ms. Marvel television miniseries.[16]