photo credit: Chloe Aftel

Ariel Schrag was born in Berkeley, California in 1979. She is the author of the autobiographical graphic novels Awkward, Definition, Potential, and Likewise, which chronicle her four years at Berkeley High School. The books are published by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster.

Potential, which was nominated for an Eisner Award, is currently being developed into a major motion picture by Killer Films (Boys Don't Cry, This American Life). Schrag wrote the screenplay adaptation and the movie will be directed by Rose Troche (Go Fish, The Safety of Objects).

Schrag was a writer for seasons three and four of the hit Showtime series, The L Word.

Schrag is the editor of and a contributor to Stuck in the Middle - 17 Comics from an Unpleasant Age, an anthology of comics about middle school, published in May 2007 by Viking. Stuck in the Middle was selected for New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age 2008.

Schrag's illustrations and comics have appeared in publications such as The San Francisco Chronicle, Jane, Paper, and The Village Voice. She has done readings and multimedia presentations of her work across the country, and her original art has appeared in museums and galleries across the United States as well as in Austria, Spain, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Schrag is the subject of the short documentary film Confession: A Film About Ariel Schrag by director/producer Sharon Barnes. Confession has played in film festivals across the United States and Europe. It was also aired on PBS and was the winner of the 2004 NewFest Audience Award in New York City.

Schrag graduated from Columbia University in 2003 with a degree in Literature. In 2004 she began teaching the course "Graphic Novel Workshop" in the writing department at The New School.

She divides her time between Los Angeles and New York.