Blockbuster bestselling novelist and accomplished television screenwriter
Celebrated novelist Maria Semple’s sharp wit and insight have made her a standout voice in contemporary fiction. Her much-awaited newest novel, Go Gentle, is set for publication in spring 2026.
Semple launched her career as a television writer, contributing to iconic series like Beverly Hills, 90210, Mad About You, Saturday Night Live, Ellen, and Arrested Development. Her talents as a screenwriter have garnered her both Emmy and Writers Guild Award nominations.
Semple’s transition to fiction was marked by the release of This One Is Mine in 2008, followed by the blockbuster bestselling Where’d You Go, Bernadette, a quirky, bittersweet novel inspired by her own move to Seattle. Bernadette captured critical acclaim and was adapted into a major motion picture, starring Cate Blanchett. The novel won the American Library Association’s Alex Award and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Semple’s third novel, Today Will Be Different, again showcased her genius for weaving humor and empathy into stories about flawed, unforgettable women. Critics and fellow authors have celebrated her work as “darkly funny and brave” (Washington Post) and Today Will Be Different as a “brainy dream of a novel” (New York Times). Author Bonnie Garmus described Today as “so unique, so smart, so funny, so beautifully humane, so utterly of our times, it is astonishing.”
With work appearing in publications like The New Yorker, Semple continues to charm readers worldwide, her novels translated into more than 40 languages.
A fun fact is that Semple’s father, acclaimed screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., wrote the pilot for Batman. Semple’s formative years were spent in Los Angeles, the setting for much of her writing. She is a graduate of Barnard College.
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