Nathan Lee Powell (born 1978) is an American

graphic novelist 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 g ...

and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

. His 2008

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

''Swallow Me Whole'' won an

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...

and

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 Original Graphic Novel. He illustrated the ''

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

'' trilogy, an autobiographical series written by U.S. Congressman

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

and

Andrew Aydin Andrew Aydin (born August 25, 1983) is an American comics writer, known as the Digital Director & Policy Advisor to Georgia congressman John Lewis, and co-author, with Lewis, of Lewis' #1 ''New York Times'' bestselling autobiographical graphic no ...

, which received the 2016

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

, making Powell the first cartoonist to receive the award.

Early life

Powell was born July 31, 1978 in

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

. The child of an Air Force officer, Powell's family moved often, living in Montana and Alabama before returning to Little Rock. Powell attended

North Little Rock High School North Little Rock High School is a public school in North Little Rock, Arkansas, that is administered by the North Little Rock School District. As of the 2016–17 school year, the high school consists of one campus, which holds 9th - 12th grade. ...

and began self-publishing comics in 1992. That same year he founded the punk rock band Soophie Nun Squad with high school friends. He graduated from 1996, and briefly attended

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

in Washington, DC. He transferred to the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

(SVA) in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he majored in Cartooning. Beginning in 2005, while at SVA, he would send

Chris Staros Chris Staros (born 1962) is the Editor-in-Chief of the graphic novel publishing company Top Shelf Productions, and also does comics mentoring for aspiring comics professionals at www.chrisstaros.com. He is also the author of ''Yearbook Stories, 19 ...

and Brett Warnock, the founders of

Top Shelf Productions Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, originally owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. Now an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia. Top Shelf pub ...

, copies of every book he made.Herbowy, Greg (Fall 2014). "Q+A: Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin & Nate Powell". ''

Visual Arts Journal The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

''. pp. 48 - 51 He graduated in 2000 after receiving the Outstanding Cartooning Student award and the Shakespeare & Company Books Self-Publishing Grant, with which he funded the first issue of ''Walkie Talkie''.

Career

Powell owned

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

record label Harlan Records and performed in several punk bands including Universe, Divorce Chord, WAIT, and Soophie Nun Squad. From 1999 to 2009, he worked as a caregiver for adults with

developmental disabilities Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

. His 2008 graphic novel ''Swallow Me Whole'' won the

for Outstanding Debut and Outstanding Artist, and was a finalist for the

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ( ...

in the

Young Adult Fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

category. It received the 2009

for Best Original Graphic Novel, and was also nominated for Best Writer/Artist and Best Lettering. In the early 2010s, Powell learned that Top Shelf would be publishing ''

'', an autobiographical graphic novel trilogy about the life of civil rights leader and United States Congressman

, which had already been written by Lewis and his colleague, Andrew Aydin. A few weeks later, Powell was contacted by Chris Staros, who suggested he try out for the assignment. Although he already had other projects lined up, Powell sent some demo pages to Lewis and Aydin, who over the course of their subsequent correspondence realized that Powell would be well-suited for the job. Although Powell had illustrated stories that were "true to life," such as the 2012 graphic ''Silence of our Friends'', this would be the first time he would depict real-life historical figures, 300 of which Powell estimates are rendered in total in the trilogy. The scene in which Lewis meets

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

for the first time was the first page Powell drew for ''March'', and although he found approaching that page difficult, says it made subsequent depictions of real-life people easier. Powell's approach was to develop a visual shorthand for each real person he had to draw, in the form of a "master drawing" to act as a reference template for that person's features, one that emphasized the person's skull structure, in lieu of referring constantly to photo reference in the course of the project, so that the characters would not look "too stale or photo-derived." He employed lifestyle and illustration books from the 1950s and 1960s, as well as Google searches, to depict fashion and automobiles of given time periods accurately. Lewis says he found Powell's renditions of scenes from his early life "very moving." Top Shelf published ''March Book One'' in November 2013. Powell has worked on the graphic novel adaptation of

Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Junior (; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million co ...

's ''

The Heroes of Olympus ''The Heroes of Olympus'' is a pentalogy of fantasy-adventure novels written by American author Rick Riordan. The novels detail a conflict between Greek demigods, Roman demigods, and Gaia (Roman name Terra). In the fourth book of the series, t ...

The Lost Hero ''The Lost Hero'' is an American fantasy-adventure novel written by Rick Riordan, based on Greek and Roman mythology. It was published on October 12, 2010, and is the first book in '' The Heroes of Olympus'' series, a sequel to the ''Percy Jacks ...

'', while working on his own next book, entitled ''Cover'' and the short comics collection ''You Don't Say''. On May 15, 2014, Powell was present at that year's commencement ceremony for his alma mater, the School of Visual Arts, when the school presented an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts to Powell's ''March'' collaborator, John Lewis. The second volume of ''March'' was scheduled for January 2015 release.

Personal life

Powell lived intermittently in central Arkansas, while calling

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

; South Hadley Falls, Massachusetts; and

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, home from 2001 to 2003. He married Rachel Lee Bormann, a social worker, in 2010, and the couple lives in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

, with their two daughters.

Awards

* 2008:

Outstanding Debut and Outstanding Artist for ''Swallow Me Whole'' * 2009:

Outstanding Graphic Novel for ''Swallow Me Whole'' * 2009:

Best Original Graphic Novel for ''Swallow Me Whole'' * 2014:

Coretta Scott King Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award rec ...

"Author Honor" for '' March: Book One'' * 2014:

Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (formerly the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, or RFK Center) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit human rights advocacy organization. It was named after United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy ...

"Special Recognition" bust for ''March: Book One'' * 2016: The National Book Award for Young People's Literature for ''March: Book Three'' * 2017: Carter G. Woodson Book Award for ''March'', with collaborators

and

Bibliography

*''D.O.A. #1-4'' (co-writer, co-artist. 9/92-4/93, Food Chain Productions) *''Food Chain Holiday Special'' (writer, artist. 12/92, Food Chain) *''D.O.A. #-47 F'' (writer, artist. 12/93, Food Chain) *''The Schwa Sound #1-14'' (2/94-5/99, Food Chain) *''Arsenic'' (5/94, Food Chain) *''Billy Crash'' (8/95, Food Chain) *''Pantheon #1'' (with Ben Nichols and Ken Edge. 2/96, Food Chain) *''The Playground Messiah'' (with Emil Heiple. 5/96, Food Chain; reprinted in 1998 by Tree of Knowledge Press) *''Conditions'' (4/99, Food Chain; French translation in 2001 by Small Budget Productions) *''Frankenbones'' (with Emil Heiple. 5/99, Food Chain) *''Wonderful Broken Thing'' (12/99, Food Chain) *''Walkie Talkie #1-4'' (5/00-6/02, Food Chain) *''Good Night For a Daydream'' (with Jenny Holt. 8/00, Food Chain) *''Tiny Giants'' (6/03,

Soft Skull Press Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company distributed by Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Avalon Publishing Group's Shoemaker & Hoard and the independent So ...

) *''It Disappears'' (6/04,

) *illustrations for ''Joyland'' (by

Emily Schultz Emily Schultz (born 1974) is an American fiction writer raised in Canada and now living in Brooklyn, New York. Life and career During an onstage interview with Margaret Atwood, Schultz described how her own family settled in Canada from Michig ...

. 3/06, ECW Press) *''Sounds of Your Name'' (9/06,

Microcosm Publishing Microcosm Publishing is an independent publisher and distributor based in Portland, Oregon. Microcosm describes itself as having "a reputation for teaching self-empowerment, showing hidden histories, and fostering creativity through challenging c ...

) *''Please Release'' (10/06,

) *''Cakewalk'' (written by Rachel Bormann)/ Bets Are Off'' (9/08, self-released) *''Swallow Me Whole'' (10/08,

) *''Papercutter #12'' (written by Rachel Bormann. 3/10, Tugboat Press) *illustrations for ''Edible Secrets'' (by Michael Hoerger and Mia Partlow. 12/10, Microcosm Publishing) *''Sweet Tooth #19'' (with

Jeff Lemire Jeff Lemire (; born March 21, 1976) is a Canadian comic book writer, artist, and television producer. He is the author of critically acclaimed titles including the '' Essex County Trilogy'', '' Sweet Tooth'', and '' The Nobody''. His written work ...

Matt Kindt Matt Kindt (born 1973) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist, and graphic designer. His early creator-owned works were spy fiction, and their success led to mainstream work for hire projects in superhero fiction and other genres. His work h ...

, and Emi Lenox. 3/11,

Vertigo Comics Vertigo Comics, also known as DC Vertigo or simply Vertigo, was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, ...

) *''Any Empire'' (7/11,

) *"Conjurers" included in the young adult fiction anthology ''What You Wish For'' (9/11, Putnam Books/ Bookwish Foundation) *''The Silence Of Our Friends'' (written by Mark Long and

Jim Demonakos Jim Demonakos (born 1977) is an American director, graphic novelist, musician and event organizer noted for his work in comic books, conventions, and documentary films. He is most often noted as the founder of Emerald City Comic Con and co-fou ...

. 1/12,

First Second Books First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual essays, and comics journalism. It als ...

) *''The Year Of The Beasts'' (written by

Cecil Castellucci Cecil C. Castellucci (born October 25, 1969 in New York City), also known as Cecil Seaskull, is an American-born Canadian young adult novelist, indie rocker, and director. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Biography Castellucci gre ...

. 5/12,

Roaring Brook Press A roar is a type of animal vocalization that is deep and resonating. Many mammals have evolved to produce roars and other roar-like vocals for purposes such as long-distance communication and intimidation. These include various species of big cat ...

) *''Sweet Tooth #34'' (with

. 6/12, Vertigo) *'' March: Book One'' (with Congressman

and

, 2013, Top Shelf Productions) *'' March: Book Two'' (with John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, 2015, Top Shelf Productions) *'' March: Book Three'' (with John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, 2016, Top Shelf Productions) *''Come Again'' (2018, Top Shelf Productions) *''Save It for Later: Promises, Protest, and the Urgency of Protest '' (2021, Top Shelf Productions)

References

External links

* *
Top Shelf Productions"Lucca Comics 2009 - Nate Powell Showcase (parte 1)"
Rizzoli Lizard Editore

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. November 1, 2009. *Wilkinson, Will
"Thinking in Comics: A Roundtable on the Present and Future of the Graphic Novel featuring Matt Kindt, Hope Larson, Nate Powell, Dash Shaw, James Sturm, Jillian Tamaki
, and Will Wilkinson"]. Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts. {{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Nate American cartoonists 1978 births American graphic novelists American male novelists Artists from Little Rock, Arkansas Carter G. Woodson Book Award winners Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Artist Inkpot Award winners Living people