Mariko Tamaki
As a child
Mariko Tamaki was born in a hospital in Toronto, Ontario. She was a very timid child with dreams of becoming far less timid, and less geeky. Mariko was never sporty or funny so mostly she played with her My Little Pony © dolls, dressing them up to look like people. Eventually her parents got her a doll that looked like a person so that people would think she was a little less crazy.
Mariko's favourite thing to do as a kid was pretend. She loved pretending to be a detective or a millionaire or anything really. Mariko and her one friend Katie, later an inspiration for almost every friend that has ever appeared in Mariko's books, used to play "spy" and break into people's houses. Later on it would be explained by Mariko's mother that spies don't necessarily just break into random old ladies' houses and make notes. As a detective Mariko loved dusting for fingerprints. One day, when she was ten, she covered her whole house in flour looking for a pretend burglar.
As an adult
I studied in a lot of places as an adult. I got my Bachelor's in English Literature at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, where I also started writing for literary magazines and performing at local cabarets. I later got my Master's Degree in Women's Studies and took two years of a PhD in Linguistic Anthropology before it occurred to me that I didn't necessarily want to be an anthropologist.
Since moving back to Toronto from Montreal, I worked as a freelance journalist, a playwright, and a short story writer. Working for a literary magazine in Toronto called Kiss Machine, I got the opportunity to try my hand at comic book writing and collaborate with my cousin Jillian.
As an artist
Mariko Tamaki's first short novel, Cover Me, was published in 2000. Since then Mariko has published two collections of humorous short fiction, True Lies: The Book of Bad Advice and Fake ID. Largely, Mariko's work examines her fascination with the complexities of the social world and the struggles of those people who cannot seem to easily fit into it.
Skim, the graphic novel co-created with illustrator/cousin Jillian Tamaki, was an attempt to get into the world of high school teenage girls. Since it's publication in Toronto, Skim has won an Ignatz Award for Best Graphic Novel and was recognized as one of the Best Illustrated Children's Books by the New York Times.
Mariko currently works as an English teacher and lectures frequently on creative writing at high schools in Toronto. She is now working on a Young Adult novel about Freshman year (first year at University).
Things you didn't know about Mariko Tamaki
- Mariko's favourite ice cream flavour is Mint Chocolate Chip but any chocolate type ice cream will do in a pinch
- Mariko watches cartoons with her cats almost every morning
- Mariko has three fish: Carl, Henry, and Barracuda (Barracuda is very mean).
- Mariko is addicted to notebooks and pens.
- Mariko loves nail polish but hates nail polish remover.
- Mariko's only detention was for passing a note in class that wasn't even hers!
- When she was little, Mariko refused to wear pants and wore only skirts until she was 15 (with few exceptions).
- All of Mariko's favourite shirts are black.
- Mariko is afraid to go into her basement at night.
- Mariko sometimes wishes she had her ponytail back.