Mark Siegel was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan but grew up in France, where at the age of five he made a postage-stamp-sized book called La femme légère. He returned to the States for college, went to Brown where he majored in creative writing and fine arts, and also wrote and directed several pretty bad plays of his own.
For about ten years after that, he developed many book projects which many of the most prestigious publishing houses rejected. He worked as a designer here and there.
In 2004 Siegel got his first break in picture books with editor Richard Jackson, Lisa Wheeler’s, Seadogs, which won the Texas Bluebonnet Award.
First experiments in charcoal, of moonscapes inspired by long walks in the Rockefeller Farms.
Long Night Moon 
Soon afterwards To Dance (2006), written by Siena Cherson Siegel, won ALA’s Sibert Honor and four star reviews (more at www.todance.info.) In 2009, on another Lisa Wheeler script, Boogie Knights was released, now under option with Dreamworks Feature Animation. His next picture book is coming soon.
Mark also wears an Editorial Director’s hat.
In 2005 he launched First Second books, a new imprint of Macmillan Publishers, dedicated to quality graphic novels for every age.
First Second books have garnered many accolades, including the Printz Award and National Book Award nominee American-Born Chinese (2006) by Gene Luen Yang, and the New York Times bestseller The Photographer (2009), by Emmanuel Guibert—and a growing, stellar collection, home to the world’s very best talents in comics today.
In 2009, Mark kicked off a new adventure with photographer Mimo Khair, profiling and mentoring young artists from around the world, and called By Art We Live .
He lives in New York, never far from the Hudson river.
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SAILOR TWAIN IN THE MEDIA:
Publishers Weekly • Patch.com • Interview on Go Home, Paddy • BoingBoing.net