Trung Le Nguyen (born June 2, 1990), also known as Trungles, is a Vietnamese-American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. He is best known as the author of the graphic novel '' The Magic Fish'', published by

Random House Graphic Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase of ...

in 2020.

Biography

Early life and career

Trung Le Nguyen was born in a Vietnamese refugee camp in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and moved to the United States as a child in 1992. He began drawing comics in middle school but gave up the pastime in college, stating, "I never really thought to make it a career. It always seemed like this fluffy way for me to pass the time." He graduated from

Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...

with a bachelor's degree in

studio art An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...

with a minor in

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

in 2012. Originally planning to pursue a career in arts administration, he instead chose to pursue a career in comics. Nguyen's art is noted for its use of traditional inking and penciling and references to Vietnamese imagery, ''shōjo'' manga, and classic

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

. He cites

Rose O'Neill Rose Cecil O'Neill (June 25, 1874 – April 6, 1944) was an American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer. She rose to fame for her creation of the popular comic strip characters, Kewpies, in 1909, and was also the first published fema ...

Heinrich Lefler Heinrich Lefler (7 November 1863, in Vienna – 14 March 1919, in Vienna) was an Austrian painter, graphic artist and stage designer. His father was the painter Franz Lefler. Life and work From 1880 to 1884, he studied at the Academy of Fine A ...

, and

Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau and ...

among his influences. In 2017, Nguyen was a jurist for the Ignatz Awards. Also in 2017 his coloring book ''Fauns & Fairies'' was published by Oni Press under their erotic comics imprint Limerence Press. In 2018, he was an artist on the

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

romance comics anthology ''Twisted Romance'', written by

Alex de Campi Alex de Campi is a British-American music video director, comics writer and columnist. Career Comics Alex de Campi wrote 2005's mini-series ''Smoke'' (published by IDW Publishing, art by Igor Kordey), which was nominated for the Eisner Award ...

. In October 2020,

published Nguyen's debut graphic novel ''The Magic Fish''. The series, which follows a young Vietnamese gay immigrant and his parents who bond and learn English through

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

books, was inspired by Nguyen's upbringing.

Personal life

Nguyen is gay, non-binary, and uses pronouns he/they. He resides in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Selected bibliography

* '' The Magic Fish'' (

, 2020) * ''Star Spinner Tarot'' (

Chronicle Books Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children. The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. ...

, 2020) * ''Twisted Romance'' #4 (

, 2018) * ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

Marshall Lee Spectacular'' (

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Origins In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Holly ...

, 2018) * ''Fauns & Fairies: The Adult Fantasy Coloring Book'' ( Limerence Press, 2017)

Accolades

Nguyen was nominated for a 2021

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

for Best Writer/Artist. ''The Magic Fish'' won two 2021 Harvey Awards for Book of the Year and Best Children or Young Adult Book. It was also named a top book on the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

's Rainbow List in 2021, and was selected as one of the best books of 2020 by ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

, and Nerdist.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Trung Le 1990 births American comics artists American people of Vietnamese descent American gay artists Hamline University alumni LGBT comics creators Living people People from Palawan People from Minneapolis