Jamila Rowser facts for kids

Jamila Rowser is an American writer and publisher. She is known for creating the blog Girl Gone Geek, which focused on "nerd culture" topics. Jamila also started Black Josei Press, a company that publishes comics by Black and Brown women. Her graphic novel Wash Day Diaries won a big award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics.

Jamila Rowser's Early Life

Jamila Rowser was born in England. Her mother was in the Air Force, so her family moved around a lot. She lived in places like the Netherlands, Germany, Hawaii, California, and New York. Her father was a teacher. Jamila is Afro-Latina, with Black, Dominican, and Puerto Rican family roots.

She studied communication at New York Institute of Technology. After finishing college, she moved to Boca Raton in 2016 to be closer to her mother.

Jamila's Creative Work

Jamila started her blog, Girl Gone Geek, in 2010. She wanted a place to talk about her favorite things, like video games, Star Wars, and Doctor Who. She didn't have many friends who shared these interests in real life.

She also helped create an international meetup group called Geek Girl Brunch. This group was a place for women and non-binary people to connect over their shared love for "nerd culture." Jamila also runs a Tumblr page called Straight Outta Gotham. It explores how hip hop and geek culture connect.

Black Josei Press

Jamila Rowser created Black Josei Press. This company publishes comics and other items made by Black and Brown women artists. She was inspired by josei manga, which are Japanese comics for women. She liked how many different kinds of stories josei manga included.

In 2018, she wrote and published Wash Day and Wobbledy 3000. Wobbledy 3000 is a sci-fi comic about an alien named Latoya. Sabii Borno drew the pictures for these comics.

In 2020, Jamila helped put together a collection of comics called Sun and Sand. It featured ten comics by artists from South Florida. She also wrote a comic for the collection called As Above, So Below.

Wash Day Diaries

In 2018, Jamila published her first comic, Wash Day, through Black Josei Press. Robyn Smith drew the pictures for the book. It tells the story of Kimana, a 26-year-old, and her Sunday morning hair washing routine. To help pay for the book, Jamila started a Kickstarter campaign. She hoped to raise $5,000, but people donated over $16,000!

Jamila worked with Robyn Smith again for Wash Day Diaries. This is a graphic novel that explores the hair care journeys of four Black women. Chronicle Books published the book in July 2022. It won the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics.

Jamila's Books

• Wash Day (2018) ISBN: 9781732419001, Black Josei Press
• Wobbledy 3000 (2018) ISBN: 9781732419025, Black Josei Press
• As Above, So Below (2020) from Sun and Sand, Black Josei Press
• Ode to Keisha (2021) ISBN: 9781732419063, Black Josei Press
• Wash Day Diaries (2022) ISBN: 9781797205458, Chronicle Books

Awards and Recognition

• 2018 − Best Comics of 2018, The Comics Journal (for Wash Day)
• 2018 − DiNKy award, Floppy Category, Denver Independent Comics & Art (for Wash Day)
• 2021 − Creative 100 Honoree, Adweek
• 2021 − Best Writer, Broken Frontier Awards (for Ode to Keisha)
• 2021 − Very Best Comics of 2021, Nerdist (for Ode to Keisha)
• 2023 − Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics (for Wash Day Diaries)