Marnie Mueller

Marnie Mueller , who was born in the Tule Lake Segregation Camp to Caucasian parents—Don and Ruth Elberson, members of the liberal segment of the administrative staff—is the author of three novels: Green Fires , set in the rainforest of Ecuador; The Climate of the Country , a story based on her parents' tenure in Tule Lake; and My Mother’s Island , situated in Puerto Rico, where her family lived for twenty years. Published by Curbstone Press, her novels are currently in-print with Northwestern University Press.

Her recent book is a hybrid memoir/biography titled The Showgirl and the Writer: A Friendship Forged in the Aftermath of the of the Japanese American Incarceration (Peace Corps WorldWide 2023), in which the hidden story of the Nisei performer, Mary Mon Toy is revealed. Essays pertaining to the Japanese American incarceration include: "Our America," That Mad Game: Growing Up in a Warzone: An Anthology of Essays from Around the Globe, published by Cinco Puntos Press in 2012, and “A Daughter’s Need to Know,” Last Witnesses: reflections on the wartime internment of Japanese Americans. Palgrave Macmillan, Erica Harth, ed. (2003).

Mueller’s awards include an American Book Award; Barnes and Noble "Discover Great New Writers"; New York City Public Library, "Best Books for the Teenage"; New York Times Book Review, "New and Noteworthy in Paper"; Maria Thomas Award for Outstanding Fiction, the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award, honorable mention; Paul Cowan Award for Outstanding Non-fiction; and a MacDowell Fellowship. She is member of PEN America, the Authors Guild, Biographers International Organization, the National Books Critics Circle, and Women Writing Women’s Lives, a professional association of women biographers affiliated with the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). Her website is www.marniemueller.com