The Art of Visual Storytelling: Gene Yang Receives the 2024 Steinbeck Award

Sponsored by the College of Humanities and the Arts Artistic Excellence Programming Grants

This is a free event, however pre-registration is strongly recommended.

Friday, October 25th
3:30- 5:30 PM
Student Union Theater, San Jose State University

Gene Luen Yang, the multi-award-winning and best-selling author of the modern classic American Born Chinese (recently adapted by Disney+), will be on campus at SJSU on October 25.

Yang will receive the 2024 John Steinbeck Award after having a craft conversation about visual storytelling with Mark Siegel, the founder and Creative and Editorial Director of First Second Books (the esteemed graphic novel imprint of MacMillian). The two authors will discuss Yang's storied career, including his beginnings, his runs writing Avatar the Last Airbender, Boxers & Saints, and Dragon Hoops, and his work in memoir and original comics, including 2024's Lunar New Year Love Story (Co-written with LeUyen Pham).

This event will include a free book giveaway for the first 100 in-person attendees.

About the featured speakers:

Gene Luen Yang writes, and sometimes draws, comic books and graphic novels. He was named a National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress in 2016, and advocates for the importance of reading, especially reading diversely. His graphic novel American Born Chinese, a National Book Award finalist and Printz Award winner, has been adapted into an original series on Disney+. His two-volume graphic novel Boxers & Saints won the LA Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award Finalist. His nonfiction graphic novel, Dragon Hoops, received an Eisner award and a Printz honor. His other comics work includes Lunar New Year Love Story (with LeUyen Pham), The Books of Clash series (with Les McClaine, Alison Acton, and Kendall Goode), Secret Coders (with Mike Holmes), The Shadow Hero (with Sonny Liew), and Superman Smashes the Klan and the Avatar: The Last Airbender series (both with Gurihiru). In 2016, he was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow.

Mark is the author and illustrator of several award-winning picture books and graphic novels, including Sailor Twain, and the 5 WORLDS graphic novel series. Mark is also the founder, and Creative & Editorial Director of First Second Books, Macmillan’s graphic novel publishing house. First Second offers an ambitious collection in every age category, in a wide range of themes and styles, with talent from all over the world. First Second has garnered an unmatched array of literary awards, starred reviews, and bestsellers, and has recently announced a new expansion with the launch of its adult imprint, 23rd Street Books.

Host or Publisher Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies