Gene Yang
Gene Yang
Cartoonist & Teacher, Self-Employed

Cal State East Bay
M.S., Education (2003)
Honorary Degree, Doctorate of Humane Letters (2019)

  • Yang was named to the 2016 class of the MacArthur Fellows Program, receiving what is commonly called the “Genius Grant.” The MacArthur Foundation, which names the fellows, said his “work for young adults demonstrates the potential of comics to broaden our understanding of diverse cultures and people.”
  • In January 2016, Yang was appointed as the fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress, Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council.
  • His two-volume graphic novel, “Boxers & Saints,” released in 2013, won the L.A. Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award Finalist.
  • Yang’s book, “American Born Chinese,” 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—New.
  • In addition to cartooning, Yang teaches creative writing at Hamline University’s MFA program in writing for children and young adults.

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artists & authors
East Bay