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Robyn Smith (cartoonist)

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Robyn Smith
NationalityJamaican
Notable workNubia: Real One, Wash Day Diaries
AwardsLos Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics

Robyn Brooke Smith is a Jamaican writer and cartoonist based in the United States. She is the author of The Saddest, Angriest, Black Girl in Town and the illustrator of Wash Day, Nubia: Real One, and Wash Day Diaries, for which she received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics.

Early life and education

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Smith was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She aspired to become a cartoonist from childhood, inspired in part by her father, a portrait artist and her mother, a makeup artist.[1] She also enjoyed reading Archie Digest, which she considers a key influence on her work.[2][1] Smith's family immigrated to the Bronx when she was 16, after she graduated high school.[1]

Smith received her bachelor's degree from Hampshire College and received her master of fine arts degree from the Center for Cartoon Studies.[3][4]

Career

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During her graduate program at the Center for Cartoon Studies she developed her debut comic book The Saddest Angriest Black Girl In Town (2016) as a mini-thesis project, a memoir about "her experience being one of the only Black people in a rural Vermont town and how that time affected her mental health and her grasp of how Blackness is viewed in the world."[4] The book was named to the 2016 Best Short Form Comics list by The Comics Journal. After going out of print, it was reprinted in 2021 by Black Josei Press.[4] Smith also published comics on CollegeHumor.[1]

Jamila Rowser approached Smith to illustrate Wash Day, a comic about a hair care ritual for Black women, published in 2018 after a successful Kickstarter campaign.[5][1] It won a 2019 DiNKy Award for Best Floppy Comic.[3] She also illustrated the follow-up graphic novel Wash Day Diaries, for which she and writer Jamila Rowser received the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics.[6][7]

Smith illustrated Nubia: Real One (2021), a DC comic written by L.L. McKinney.

Works

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Illustration

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  • 2016 – The Saddest Angriest Black Girl In Town, writer and illustrator
  • 2018 – Wash Day, written by Jamila Rowser, Black Josei Press ISBN 9781732419001
  • 2021 – Nubia: Real One, written by L.L. McKinney, DC Comics ISBN 1401296408
  • 2022 – Wash Day Diaries, written by Jamila Rowser, Chronicle Books ISBN 9781797205458

Accolades

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Indie Comics Spotlight: With Wash Day, Nubia, and more, artist Robyn Smith is making Black Girl Magic real". SYFY. 2021-03-12. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  2. ^ "WASH DAY DIARIES' Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith on Their Heartfelt Graphic Novel". Nerdist. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  3. ^ a b "Alum and Graphic Novel Artist Robyn Smith's "Nubia" Featured in New York Times Article on "When Blackness Is a Superpower"". Hampshire College. 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  4. ^ a b c McClain, Carrie (2021-08-05). "Navigating The World While Black: The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town". SOLRAD. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  5. ^ "Wash Day - Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith's Comics "Tribute to the Beauty and Endurance of Black Women and Their Hair"". Broken Frontier. 2018-08-15. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  6. ^ "Black TV Shows, Films, Comics, and Novels to Support in 2022". Nerdist. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  7. ^ a b St. Martin, Emily. "Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Winners Announced". MSN. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  8. ^ Studies, The Center for Cartoon (2022-01-01). "Robyn Smith '17 Emerging Talent Award from CXC". The Center for Cartoon Studies. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
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