In 1976, Wilson co-founded the feminist publishing company Seal Press In 2001, her book
Gaudi Afternoon was adapted into a film of the same name, directed by
Susan Seidelman. Wilson later expressed regrets that the aspects of lesbian identity present in the book were eliminated from the film.
Slate described Wilson as a "genre pioneer" for her mystery novels. After a hiatus of many years, Wilson published a new mystery,
Not the Real Jupiter, with her character Cassandra Reilly, in 2021. In 2021, she published an article in
Crime Reads, "The Queer Old Case of the Spinster Sleuth" about older lesbians in crime fiction. In addition to fiction, Wilson has published significant works of nonfiction. Her memoir,
Blue Windows: A Christian Science Childhood, was a winner of the Lambda Literary Award and a finalist for the PEN USA award. Writing as Barbara Sjoholm, her nonfiction includes several travelogues, including a memoir of her travels as a young writer,
Incognito Street. She wrote
The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O’Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea, which was a finalist for the PEN USA award in creative nonfiction. In 2017, she published a biography of Danish artist,
Emilie Demant Hatt, titled
Black Fox. Sjoholm has also translated two books by Demant Hatt, the travel narrative,
With the Lapps in the High Mountains, and
By the Fire: Sami Folktales and Legends. Sjoholm's historical novel about the relationship between Emilie Demant Hatt and Danish composer Carl Nielsen,
Fossil Island, won Best Indie award from the Historical Novel Society. Its sequel is
The Former World. As Barbara Sjoholm, she has also published many essays and travel articles in publications such as the
New York Times, Smithsonian, LA Times, Slate, Harvard Review, American Scholar, Feminist Studies, and
Scandinavian Studies. == Awards and honors ==