FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
White River Junction, Vermont –The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) has named Sarah Shay Mirk its Program and Applied Cartooning Fellow for the 2023-24 academic year. Shay (she/they) is a graphic journalist, editor, and teacher. She is the author of Guantanamo Voices (Abrams, 2020), an illustrated oral history of Guantanamo Bay prison, which Kirkus called “extraordinary… an eye-opening, damning indictment of one of America’s worst trespasses.” She is also a zine-maker and illustrator whose comics have been featured in The Nib, The New Yorker, Bitch, and NPR. Her book on the craft of making nonfiction comics, Drawn from the Margins: The Power of Graphic Journalism (co-written with CCS graduate Eleri Harris ‘14), will debut from Abrams ComicsArts in 2024.
“I’m very excited to be part of The Center for Cartoon Studies community this year, it’s such a special and important school,” says Shay. “I’ll be focusing on a couple nonfiction comics projects, including Drawn from the Margins, and a zine about the history of LGBTQ zine-making.”
Shay is the author several books, including You Do You: Figuring Out Your Body, Dating, and Sexuality (Lerner, 2019), Sex from Scratch: Making Your Own Relationship Rules (Microcosm, 2014), and the self-published collection Year of Zines (2020). Shay is also an adjunct professor in Portland State University’s MFA program in Art and Social Practice, where she teaches a graduate seminar on writing and research.
The CCS Program Fellowship is awarded to a cartoonist who has already achieved significant critical and/or professional stature. The Applied Cartooning Fellow is awarded to a cartoonist who uses comics to foster civic engagement and social change. A full list of former fellows can be found here.
To see more of Shay Mirk’s work please visit: mirkwork.com
For more information contact: info@cartoonstudies.org
About The Center for Cartoon Studies
The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) is America’s premier cartooning school and studio located in the historic village of White River Junction, Vermont. CCS programs include a two-year Master of Fine Arts Degree, one- and two-year certificates in cartooning, and annual summer workshops. Faculty and visiting artists include many of today’s most celebrated cartoonists. CCS has received national acclaim for its work and prominent mention in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. For more information, visit: cartoonstudies.org.
