Robyn Smith is a Jamaican cartoonist known for her mini-comic The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town, illustrating DC Comics’ Nubia: Real One (written by L.L. McKinney) and Black Josei Press’ Wash Day (written by Jamila Rowser). She has an MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies (class of 2017) and has also worked on comics for College Humor, Nike, and The Nib. She loves cake and her cat, Benson, and holds onto dreams of returning home to the ocean.

For The Comics Journal, critic Rob Clough listed The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town as one of the best short-form comics of 2016. Wash Day was named one of the best comics of 2018 and also received a 2019 Dinky award for best floppy comic. Along with Jamila Rowser, Smith was recently honored in AdWeek’s Creative100: The Most Inspiring Talents of 2021. The pair is currently completing The Wash Day Diaries for Chronicle Books, to be published in Spring 2022.

The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) Fellowship is awarded to an emerging cartoonist who has already achieved significant critical and/or professional stature. The program is designed to help the cartoonist enter the next phase of their career by providing access to CCS’s many resources. Smith is the 19th year-long CCS fellow. A full list of former fellows can be found here.

“I’m just unbelievably honored to be awarded this opportunity!” said Smith “I’ve kind of been going nonstop since leaving CCS, which I’m grateful for, but I’m so happy to be back in White River Junction where I can slow down, refocus, and return to the practice of making comics for myself for a bit.”

“Since graduating from CCS, Robyn has continued to gain recognition for her amazing work. We are thrilled and honored to welcome Robyn back as the first CCS graduate to be awarded a year-long fellowship,” said CCS director James Sturm.