Annual Conference

Keynote Speaker, Gene Luen Yang

Reading Without Walls
Tuesday, October 9

Gene Luen Yang was the 2016-17 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and a 2016 MacArthur Fellow. He began drawing comic books in the fifth grade, and in 1997 he received a Xeric Grant for his first comic, Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks. He has since written and drawn a number of titles, including Duncan’s Kingdom, The Rosary Comic Book, and Prime Baby. American Born Chinese, his first graphic novel from First Second, was a National Book Award finalist, as well as the winner of the Printz Award and an Eisner Award. He also won an Eisner for The Eternal Smile, a collaboration with Derek Kirk Kim. He is the author of the Secret Coders series (with artist Mike Holmes) and has written for the hit comics Avatar: The Last Airbender and Superman. In addition to cartooning, he teaches creative writing through Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.