Nathan Lee Powell (born 1978) is an American

graphic novelist developed specialized terminology. Several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is under ...

and

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. His 2008

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

''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 awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

for Best Original Graphic Novel. He illustrated the ''

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

'' trilogy, an autobiographical series written by U.S. Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, which received the 2016

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) 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. ...

, making Powell the first cartoonist to receive the award.

Early life

Powell was born July 31, 1978 in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. 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 gr ...

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 The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

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 Silas ...

(SVA) in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he majored in Cartooning. Beginning in 2005, while at SVA, he would send Chris Staros 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 with a small staff. Currently an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia. Top Sh ...

, copies of every book he made.Herbowy, Greg (Fall 2014). "Q+A: Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin & Nate Powell". '' Visual Arts Journal''. 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 punk 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 ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize currently has nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), his ...

in the

Young Adult Fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

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 John Lewis, 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, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

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. In January 2017, 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. History 19th century ...

awarded ''March: Book Three'' the 2017 Printz Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, and the

Sibert Medal The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal established by the Association for Library Service to Children in 2001 with support from Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc., is awarded annually to the writer and illustrator of the most distinguished in ...

. It was the first time a single book won four ALA awards. The trilogy received the Carter G. Woodson Book Award in 2017. Powell has worked on the graphic novel adaptation of

Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Jr. ( ; 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 cop ...

's '' The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero'', 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, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 47,741. The city is located immediate ...

; South Hadley Falls, Massachusetts; and

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, 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 Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

, 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 "Author Honor" for '' March: Book One'' * 2014: Robert F. Kennedy Book Award "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 John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

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) *''It Disappears'' (6/04, Soft Skull Press) *illustrations for ''Joyland'' (by Emily Schultz. 3/06, ECW Press) *''Sounds of Your Name'' (9/06, Microcosm Publishing) *''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, Matt Kindt, and Emi Lenox. 3/11,

Vertigo Comics DC Vertigo, also known as Vertigo Comics or simply Vertigo, is an Imprint (trade name), imprint of the American comic book publisher DC Comics. Vertigo publishes comics with adult comics, adult content, such as nudity, drug use, profanity, and ...

) *''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. 1/12, First Second Books) *''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 gr ...

. 5/12, Roaring Brook Press) *''Sweet Tooth #34'' (with Jeff Lemire. 6/12, Vertigo) *'' March: Book One'' (with Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, 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 an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. 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 comics writers American comics artists 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 Sibert Medal winners National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners Michael L. Printz Award winners