Sponsored by Asian/Asian American Studies Institute and Asian American Cultural Center

GENE LUEN YANG began making comics and graphic novels in the fifth grade. In 2006 First Second Books published American Born Chinese, which became the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association’s Printz Award. It also won an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album.

In 2013, First Second Books released Boxers & Saints, Yang’s two-volume graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion. Nominated for a National Book Award, this book also won the L.A. Times Book Prize.

Gene Yang has created a number of other comics, including Dark Horse Comics’ continuation of the popular Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender and DC Comics’ Superman! In addition to cartooning, he teaches creative writing through Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, teaching alongside amazing authors like Anne Ursu, Gary Schmidt, Laura Ruby, Matt De La Pena, to name a few.

In January 2016, the Library of Congress, Every Child A Reader, and the Children’s Book Council appointed Gene Luen Yang the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.