Hope Larson

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Hope Raue Larson (born 17 September 1982) is an American illustrator and cartoonist. Larson is mostly of German and Swedish descent. Her main field is graphic novels; she is regarded as one of the most promising young female cartoonists of the 2000s.^[1] She has lived in Canada since 2004.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Career 2.1 Publishing 2.2 Acclaim 3 Works 3.1 Graphic novels 3.2 Selected short stories and minicomics 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

Larson grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she graduated with a BFA in 2004. She then moved to Toronto with her husband, Canadian Bryan Lee O'Malley. In 2005, they moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

[edit] Career

While Larson was still in college, Scott McCloud took an interest in her illustrations, encouraging her to create comics. Soon after, she was invited to the webcomics anthology site Girlamatic and produced her first professional comic, a web serial entitled I Was There & Just Returned.^[2] Afterwards, Larson concentrated on a number of small, hand-made minicomics, combining her interests in comics, screenprinting, and bookmaking.

She contributed to comics anthologies Flight, True Porn 2, and You Ain't No Dancer, while working on a web-serialized graphic novel, Salamander Dream. This eventually became her first full-length book, published by AdHouse Books in September 2005; she moved to Oni Press for her second graphic novel, Gray Horses (released March 2006).

In 2006, Larson signed a two-book contract with New York publishing house Simon & Schuster. The first book under this deal, Chiggers, to be released in 2008 under the Ginee Seo imprint, will be a graphic novel about "nerdy teenaged girls" who meet at summer camp, and is intended for the young adult market.^[3]

In addition to comics, Larson has worked as a freelance illustrator for various clients, including the New York Times. She is also a professional letterer; as of 2006 she is lettering Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly's Local.

[edit] Publishing

In 2006, Larson launched her own publishing imprint, Tulip Tree Press. She has released several minicomics and prints through the Tulip Tree website[1]; the first book released under the Tulip Tree name is House of Sugar, a collection of Rebecca Kraatz's comic strip, released 15 November 2006.^[4]

[edit] Acclaim

Larson was nominated for the 2006 Kim Yale Award for Best New Female Talent, and won the 2006 Ignatz Award in the category Promising New Talent.^[5]

[edit] Works

[edit] Graphic novels

• Salamander Dream. AdHouse Books, 2005
• Gray Horses. Oni Press, 2006

[edit] Selected short stories and minicomics

• "Sex Rainbow," March 2004 (originally printed as a deck of cards)
• "Compound Eye," April 2004
• "Weather Vain," August 2004 (originally printed in Flight Vol. 2)
• "Mud," February 2005 (originally printed in You Ain't No Dancer #1)
• "Little House in the Big Woods," August 2006 (originally printed in the New York Times)
• "When I Was A Slut," March 2006 (published in Project: Romantic)

[edit] See also

• Women in comics

[edit] References

1. ^ Douglas Wolk. "Gray Horses" (review). Salon. Retrieved on September 20, 2006.
2. ^ Gordon McAlpin. "The Hope Larson Interview". Comic Book Galaxy. Retrieved on September 20, 2006.
3. ^ Heidi MacDonald. "Hope Larson Signs Two-book Deal with S&S". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved on September 20, 2006.
4. ^ Douglas Wolk. "Fans Look for Books at MoCCA 2006". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved on September 21, 2006.
5. ^ Heidi MacDonald. "2006 Ignatz Award Winners". The Beat. Retrieved on November 10, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Larson's website, hopelarson.com
• She's From Away, Larson's now-defunct webcomic
• Tulip Tree Press, Larson's publishing imprint
• Hope Larson on hinah exhibitions