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 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]
Color Outside the Lines (Soho Teen, 2019) (with stories by Adam Silvera, Anna-Marie McLemore, Sangu Mandanna, Elsie Chapman, Caroline Tung Richmond, Kelly Zekas, Tarun Shanker, Eric Smith, Lori M. Lee).
