Jen Wang

American cartoonist, writer, and illustrator

Jennifer Sheena Wang

Born	(1984-03-22) March 22, 1984 (age 40)^[1] Alameda County, California, U.S.
Alma mater	San Francisco State University
Occupation(s)	Cartoonist, writer, and illustrator

Jennifer Sheena "Jen" Wang (born March 22, 1984) is an American cartoonist, writer and illustrator based in Los Angeles. Wang has published graphic books including Koko Be Good, In Real Life (with Cory Doctorow), and The Prince and the Dressmaker. Wang is a co-founder and organizer for Los Angeles-based comics festival Comic Arts LA.^[2] Jen's art work has been published in Adventure Time and LA Magazine.^[3]

Early life

Wang was born in Northern California. Wang's parents are immigrants from Taiwan. Wang was raised in the Bay Area of California. During high school, Wang was a manga reader.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Education

Wang graduated from San Francisco State University, first majoring in film, but she changed it to sociology.^[7]

Career

Wang started drawing webcomics Strings of Fate.^[4]

In 2010, Wang wrote her first graphic novel Koko Be Good.^[5]

In 2014, Wang became the co-founder and organizer of Comic Arts Los Angeles (CALA), which was held at the Think Tank Gallery in Los Angeles, California.^[8]^[9]

Wang is also the creator of a webcomic called The White Snake.^[10]

Awards and recognition

2014 Cybils Award for Best Graphic Novel for In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang.^[11] In Real Life was published by First Second Books.^[11] In Real Life is based on Cory Doctorow's short story Anda's Game.^[12]
2018 Harvey Award for The Prince and the Dressmaker tied in a win for Best Children or Young Adult Book. It was nominated in the Book of the Year category as well.^[13]
2019 Eisner Award - best writer/artist for The Prince and the Dressmaker.^[14]
2019 Eisner Award - best publications for teens (ages 13–17) for The Prince and the Dressmaker.^[14]
2020 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in Children's Literature category for Stargazing.^[15]

Works

This is a partial list of books written or illustrated by Wang.

2007 Flight Volume 1 & 2
2010 Koko Be Good. As writer and illustrator. Published by First Second Books.^[12]^[5]
2012 Fake Mustache. As illustrator. Published by Amulet/Abrams.^[16]
2014 In Real Life. Illustrator.^[7]^[5]^[11]^[12]
2014 The White Snake (serialized)
2016 Lumberjanes: Makin: the Ghost of It.^[17]
2018 The Prince and the Dressmaker. Published by First Second Books.^[8]^[18]^[4]
2019 Stargazing. Published by First Second.^[5]^[8]^[15]

Personal life

Wang lives in Los Angeles, California.^[7]

References

^ "THE BIRTH OF JENNIFER WANG". CaliforniaBirthIndex.org. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
^ "About « Jen Wang". Jenwang.net. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
^ "Jen Wang | Authors | Macmillan". Us.macmillan.com. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Brown, Hillary (February 13, 2018). "The Prince and the Dressmaker's Jen Wang Talks High-School Habits, Sensitive Storytelling & Her Favorite Princesses". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lee, Jennifer (August 26, 2019). "Jen Wang shares her inspiration behind her latest young adult graphic novel, "Stargazing"". iexaminer.org. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
^ "Jen Wang (Person)". Comic Vine. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Wang's 'In Real Life' adapted at UNI". northerniowan.com. October 30, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c Grochowski, Sara (September 12, 2019). "Q & A with Jen Wang". publishersweekly.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
^ Munoz, Desilu (December 12, 2014). "Recap: Comic Arts LA @ Think Tank Gallery". lataco.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
^ "Interview with Jen Wang | Cybils Awards". Cybils.com. May 5, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The 2014 Cybils Awards | Cybils Awards". Cybils.com. February 14, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wheeler, Andrew (December 1, 2014). "In Real Life Artist Jen Wang on Color, Creativity, and Building a World Interview". Comicsalliance.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
^ "2018 HARVEY AWARDS Winners (Full List)". Newsarama. October 6, 2018.
^ ^a ^b McMillan, Graeme (July 20, 2019). "Eisner Awards: The Complete Winners List". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "2020 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Winners Selected". apalaweb.org. January 27, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
^ "Fake Mustache". kirkusreviews.com. April 1, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
^ Collins, Elle (May 17, 2016). "Spirits in the Woods: Writer Jen Wang on Lumberjanes: Makin: the Ghost of It". comicsalliance.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
^ Jen Wang (February 13, 2018). "The Prince and the Dressmaker". goodreads.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.