Mark was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and raised in France. He graduated from Brown and lives in New York.

Mark is the author and illustrator of several award-winning picture books and graphic novels, including Seadogs, Long Night Moon, To Dance, Moving House, and the NY Times bestseller Sailor Twain, which author John Irving called “a gripping novel with compelling characters, enhanced by haunting, erotically charged artwork.”  

Mark's recent collaborative graphic novel series—the NY Times bestselling 5 Worlds, is an epic science-fiction story for young readers. The New York Times Book Review hails it as “ . . . a bang-zoom start to a series that promises to be epic in both the classical and internet senses of the word. . . this is a capital-S Saga.” The fifth and final volume of the series is The Emerald Gate.

His latest project is with his wife Siena Cherson Siegel is a teen graphic memoir called Tiny Dancer.

 

Mark is also the founder, and Creative & Editorial Director of First Second Books, Macmillan’s graphic novel publishing house. First Second offers an ambitious collection in every age category, in a wide range of themes and styles, with talent from all over the world. First Second has garnered an unmatched array of literary awards, starred reviews and bestsellers—including Gene Luen Yang, Vera Brosgol, Jen Wang, Ben Hatke, Shannon Hale, LeUyen Pham, Tillie Walden, Ngozi Ukazu, and beloved bestselling titles such as The Adventure Zone, Hayao Miyazaki's Shuna's Journey, The Clash of Clans book series, This One Summer, and many more. 

Mark has appeared before thousands of librarians and educators to speak about the graphic novel renaissance. He has given lectures and workshops internationally and all around North America, for authors, artists, librarians, students, executives in many venues, at tradeshows, companies, Comic Cons, and animation studios, including Blue Sky, Dreamworks, Disney, and Pixar, for creatives and executives.

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From a short history of the First Second publishing adventure to behind-the-scene stories on creating the 5 WORLDS series, and more besides, here's an interview for your podcast listening pleasure:

"For our second episode of ‘Why We Create’, we sat down with publisher and artist, Mark Siegel to chat about the creation of his publishing company, First Second Books, the magic behind a collaborative workflow, and the power of sequential storytelling."