Tillie Walden

Tillie Walden
Walden in 2018
Walden in 2018
Born1996 (age 27–28)
OccupationCartoonist, author
NationalityAmerican
EducationCenter for Cartoon Studies
GenreGraphic novel
Notable worksSpinning
Notable awards
Website
tilliewalden.com

Tillie Walden (born 1996)[1] is an American cartoonist who has published five graphic novels and a webcomic.[2] Walden won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work for her graphic novel Spinning, making her one of the youngest Eisner Award winners ever. She was named Vermont's Cartoonist Laureate for the years 2023 - 2026, making her the state's youngest-ever Cartoonist Laureate.[3][4]

Early life

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Tillie Walden grew up in New Jersey and Austin, Texas. Walden was shaped by her childhood move from New Jersey to Texas. She was a competitive ice skater.[5]

Walden is named after her paternal grandmother, an artist who died before Walden was born. Walden's first comic was a black-and-white comic "about never knowing her [grandmother] but following in her footsteps." A workshop led by Scott McCloud had been a major turning point in her career, given it "really inspired [her] to draw some comics, and around this time [she] was also becoming increasingly bored with fine art".[6]

Growing up, Walden read a lot of manga. This greatly influenced her work, leading her to focus more on line than shape or color. The biggest manga artist that had an impact on her was Yoshihiro Togashi, creator of the manga Hunter x Hunter.[7] Additionally, in an interview, Walden said "Studio Ghibli has completely shaped my visual vocabulary and how I think about stories."[8] Walden is said to have also been influenced by graphic memoirs, such as Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Blankets by Craig Thompson and Stitches by David Small.[7]

Walden began putting her comics and drawings on her website, and was discovered while still in high school by British publisher Avery Hill Publishing, who worked with Walden to publish her first graphic novel, The End of Summer.[9]

Career

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Walden's debut graphic novel, The End of Summer, was published by Avery Hill in June 2015. It is told from the viewpoint of Lars, a feeble boy who lives in a fantastical palace and has a giant cat named Nemo.[9] In an WORDS interview with Paul Gravett, she dedicates the book to her twin brother, John. She describes the main characters as being a mishmash of her and John.[6] Walden won the 2016 Ignatz Award for outstanding artist for The End of Summer.[10]

Her second graphic novel, I Love This Part, was published by Avery Hill in November 2015 and tells the story of two teenage girls who fall in love.[9] Walden won the 2016 Ignatz Award for promising new talent for I Love This Part.[10] The novel was also nominated for the 2016 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue/One-Shot.[11]

Walden's third graphic novel, A City Inside, was published by Avery Hill in 2016.[12] It won the 2016 Broken Frontier Award for Best One-Shot.[13]

Spinning, Walden's first graphic novel memoir about her years coming-of-age as a competitive ice skater, was published by First Second Books in September 2017.[14] Originally, Spinning was Walden's thesis work for the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) during her second year of schooling there.[7] It won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work, making Walden one of the youngest Eisner Award winners ever at 22.[15]

Walden's On a Sunbeam, a science fiction webcomic,[1] was nominated for the 2017 Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic.[16] The webcomic was adapted into a graphic novel[1] that was released in October 2018 by First Second Books,[17] with the UK edition published by Avery Hill Publishing.[18] Set in space, the story revolves around a crew in charge of rebuilding structures, which allows them to acknowledge the past. As Mia, the newest member, gets to know her team, a flashback occurs where she fell in love with another student named Grace. As time progresses and bonds are formed, Mia inevitably opens up about her reasoning for joining their ship.[19] This piece is Walden's first take on science fiction. The graphic novel won the 2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.[20]

To commemorate International Women's Day, Walden's piece "Minutes" was featured as a Google Doodle on March 8, 2018.[21]

In 2019, Walden published Are You Listening? from First Second Books, which earned her the 2020 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album-New.[22]

In 2020, Walden published Alone in Space: A Collection which compiled her previously published I Love This Part and A City Inside, as well as several previously unpublished comics, sketches, and works from magazines, including her piece What It's Like To Be Gay In An All-Girls Middle School.[23]

In 2021, Walden was approached by Skybound to write a trilogy of graphic novels following the character Clementine from the The Walking Dead. Clementine: Book One was released in 2022, while Book Two released in 2023. Book Three is expected to release in 2025.[24][25][26]

In 2022, Walden and Emma Hunsinger published My Parents Won't Stop Talking! from First Second Books.[27]

In 2023, Walden illustrated the graphic novel Junior High, written by twin musicians Tegan and Sara. A sequel, Crush was published in 2024.[28]

In May 2024, Walden took up residency at the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History to write a graphic novel about the relationship between Sylvia Drake and Charity Bryant. Drake and Bryant lived in Weybridge, VT in the early 19th century, and are one of the earliest documented lesbian couples. The Sheldon Museum has many records from the couple, which Walden used to write the novel. The project was commissioned by Vermont Humanities and the Vermont branch of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The book is expected to release in 2025.[29]

Personal life

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Walden has known she was a lesbian since she was 5.[14][30] Before she came out, Walden avoided including queer characters in her stories, feeling that she "couldn't draw openly gay characters if [she] was still scared to be openly gay".[9]

Walden spoke of her father's influence on her entrance into the comics industry. As said in an interview, "My dad has been the behind-the-scenes guy for my entire comics career. I realized that when I start looking, he’s been everywhere."[31]

Walden is a graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies. She also works as a professor there.[32][1]

She is married to fellow graphic novelist Emma Hunsinger, whom she met when they were both attending the Center for Cartoon Studies.[33][34]

During the release of Clementine: Book Two in October 2023, Walden gave birth to her first son, Walter.[35]

Walden has two cats named Stanley and Tatiana.[36]

Published works

[edit]
  • The End of Summer (Avery Hill Publishing 2015)[1]
  • I Love This Part (Avery Hill Publishing 2015)[37]
  • A City Inside (Avery Hill Publishing 2016)[38]
  • Spinning (First Second Books 2017)[39]
  • Mini Meditations on Creativity (Liminal 11, 2018)[40]
  • On a Sunbeam (First Second Books 2018)[2]
  • Are You Listening? (First Second Books 2020)[41]
  • Alone in Space (Avery Hill Publishing 2021)[42]
  • My Parents Won't Stop Talking! (First Second Books 2022)[3]
  • Clementine: Book One (Image / Skybound 2022)[43]
  • Junior High by Tegan Quin & Sara Quin (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2023)[44]
  • Clementine Book Two (Image / Skybound 2023)[45]
  • Crush by Tegan Quin & Sara Quin (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2024)[46]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "The Next Frontier: Tillie Walden's Webcomic On a Sunbeam Will Be Adapted to a Graphic Novel". Bookish. October 2, 2017. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  2. ^ Micheline, JA (September 19, 2017). "Tillie Walden: young graphic novelist breaks the ice with memoir Spinning". The Guardian.
  3. ^ "Tillie Walden started drawing at 16. Ten years later, she's the cartoonist laureate of Vermont". Vermont Public. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  4. ^ Hauser, Brooke. "Tillie Walden will be Vermont's fifth — and youngest — 'cartoonist laureate' - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  5. ^ Wong, Alex (October 4, 2017). ""Everything I Had to Say about My Life Is in That Book": An Interview with Tillie Walden". The Comics Journal.
  6. ^ a b "Tillie Walden | PAUL GRAVETT". www.paulgravett.com. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  7. ^ a b c Sahn, Sarah (2017). "Spinning by Tillie Walden". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 71 (2): 96. doi:10.1353/bcc.2017.0747. ISSN 1558-6766. S2CID 149055516.
  8. ^ ""Everything I Had to Say about My Life Is in That Book": An Interview with Tillie Walden | The Comics Journal". www.tcj.com. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  9. ^ a b c d Landsbaum, Claire (November 16, 2015). "Tillie Walden on the Queer Characters and Emotional Turmoil of Her New Comic, I Love This Part". Vulture.com.
  10. ^ a b Cavna, Michael (September 18, 2016). "Small Press Expo: Here are your 2016 Ignatz Award winners, including new talent Tillie Walden". The Washington Post.
  11. ^ Cavna, Michael (April 19, 2016). "2016 Eisner Awards: 'The Oscars of comics' announces record number of nominations for women". The Washington Post.
  12. ^ "Comics Book Review: A City Inside by Tillie Walden". Publishers Weekly. July 25, 2016.
  13. ^ Russell, Ally (June 12, 2017). "A City Inside – Tillie Walden Secures Her Place as One of the Leading Voices in Comics Today". Broken Frontier.
  14. ^ a b "Spinning - Kirkus Review". Kirkus Reviews. July 17, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  15. ^ Cavna, Michael (July 23, 2018). "Women make history, and receive overdue recognition, at 2018 Eisner Awards". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  16. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (May 2, 2017). "THE 2017 EISNER AWARD NOMINEES REVEALED". IGN.
  17. ^ "Kirkus Review: On a Sunbeam". Kirkus Reviews. August 20, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  18. ^ "Behold! Summer's Quietus Comics Round Up Column". The Quietus. June 1, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  19. ^ Walden, Tillie (2018-10-04). On A Sunbeam. Avery Hill Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781910395370.
  20. ^ a b MacDonald, Heidi (2019-04-17). "Awards Watch: Pulitzers, Doug Wright Awards, Studio Prize winners, The Reuben, LA Times Book Prize". ComicsBeat.
  21. ^ Mejia, Zameena (March 7, 2018). "Here's how Google is celebrating International Women's Day this year". CNBC. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  22. ^ "Eisner Awards Current Info". Comic-Con International: San Diego. 17 December 2014.
  23. ^ "Alone in Space". Avery Hill Publishing. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  24. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (24 June 2021). "Skybound launches Comet line of comics for young readers". Comics Beat. Superlime Media LLC. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  25. ^ Garrity, Shaenon. "U.S. Book Show 2023: Tillie Walden". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz, LLC. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  26. ^ Morales, Carlos (28 August 2024). "Skybound Comet Reveals New Slate of 2025 YA Graphic Novel Launches". ComicWatch. Comic Watch. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  27. ^ "My Parents Won't Stop Talking!". Macmillan. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  28. ^ CBC Books. "Tegan and Sara: Crush by Tegan Quin and Sara Quin, illustrated by Tillie Walden". CBC. Radio-Canada. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  29. ^ Hogan, Emily. "Graphic novel of one of the earliest lesbian couples in America draws from Henry Sheldon Museum archives". The Middlebury Campus. Middlebury College. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  30. ^ Carr, Jan (15 September 2017). "Spinning - Book review". Common Sense Media. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  31. ^ Wong, Alex (2017-10-04). ""Everything I Had to Say about My Life Is in That Book": An Interview with Tillie Walden". The Comics Journal. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
  32. ^ "CCS Faculty". cartoonstudies.org. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  33. ^ Ramirez, Amanda. "'Playing the Long Game': PW Talks with Emma Hunsinger". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz, LLC. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  34. ^ Dueben, Alex (12 April 2022). "Smash Pages Q&A with Emma Hunsinger + Tillie Walden". Smash Pages. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  35. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  36. ^ Gopalan, Nisha. "Cartoonist Tillie Walden's Cats Try to Destroy Her Life's Work". Kinship. Kinship Partners, Inc. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  37. ^ "I Love This Part (Hardback Edition) by Tillie Walden". Avery Hill Publishing. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  38. ^ "A City Inside (Hardback Edition) by Tillie Walden". Avery Hill Publishing. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  39. ^ Valdez, Kiara (2017-09-12). "Happy Book Birthday to Spinning!". First Second Books. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  40. ^ "Mini Meditations on Creativity". light at the crossroads. Liminal 11. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  41. ^ "Are You Listening?". Macmillan. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  42. ^ "Alone in Space: A Collection by Tillie Walden". Avery Hill Publishing. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  43. ^ "Skybound Comet – Clementine Book One by Tillie Walden". Skybound Comet. Skybound. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  44. ^ Quin, Tegan; Quin, Sara. Tegan and Sara: Junior High (graphic novel). Illustrated by Tillie Walden. Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  45. ^ "Skybound Comet – Clementine Book 2 by Tillie Walden". Skybound Comet. Skybound. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  46. ^ Quin, Tegan; Quin, Sara. Tegan and Sara: Crush (graphic novel). Illustrated by Tillie Walden. Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
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