National Book Award

Comic Book Artist Goes from Superheroes to Civil Rights

People familiar with the 2013 graphic novel “March” and its two sequels already know that Lewis’ illustrated history of his role in the civil rights movement became a sensation. Despite critics who thought a “comic book” was too pulpy for an elder statesman’s story, it triumphed on the New York Times best-seller list. The third installation went on to win the National Book Award, a first for a graphic novel.

Celebrating Writer and Educator Charles Johnson

While a graduate student at SUNY, Johnson produced numerous short stories. In these works, Johnson experimented with the fusing of philosophical interpretative method to literary form.  He later used this technique in his two most important non-fiction books: Being and Race (1988) and Turning the Wheel: Essays in Buddhism and Writing (2003).