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Nick Drnaso

ニック・ドレナソ

Nick Drnaso

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
Palos Hills, Illinois, United States
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Palos Hills (birthplace) → Chicago (resident)

Career

Occupations
graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator
Active Years
2010-
Influenced By
Ivan Brunetti, Robert Crumb, Todd Solondz, Julie Doucet, Henry Darger

Education

Columbia College Chicago
Illustration / Illustration
Country: United States
Attended community college before studying illustration at Columbia College Chicago.

Awards

Ignatz Award
2012
Work: "Keith or Steve"
Category: Story
Organization: Ignatz Awards
Result: Nominated
Ignatz Award
2014
Work: "The Grassy Knoll"
Category: Story
Organization: Ignatz Awards
Result: Nominated
Ignatz Award
2016
Work: Beverly
Category: Collection
Organization: Ignatz Awards
Result: Nominated
Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Graphic Novel)
2016
Work: Beverly
Category: Graphic Novel
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: Won
Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for First Comic Book
2018
Work: Beverly
Category: First Comic Book
Organization: Angoulême International Comics Festival
Result: Won
Booker Prize
2018
Work: Sabrina
Organization: Booker Prize
Result: Longlisted
Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
2018
Work: Sabrina
Organization: Center for Fiction
Result: Longlisted
Orwell Prize (Political Fiction)
2019
Work: Sabrina
Category: Political Fiction
Organization: Orwell Prize
Result: Shortlisted
Young Lions Fiction Award
2019
Work: Sabrina
Organization: New York Public Library
Result: Finalist
PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
2023
Work: Acting Class
Organization: PEN America
Result: Finalist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Beverly

2016 Graphic novel

A collection/graphic novel that depicts small moments of everyday life and the isolation of its characters with a quiet, restrained style. Explores suburban relationships and social distance in the U.S.

isolationsuburban lifefragile interpersonal relationships

Sabrina

2018 Graphic novel

Centers on a disappearance and the media reaction surrounding it, exploring truth, anxiety, and contemporary social unease through restrained drawing and understated expression. Notably the first graphic novel longlisted for the Booker Prize.

media and truthanxietyloneliness

Acting Class

2022 Graphic novel

Through a series of stories set around an acting class, the book examines performance, selfhood, and distance from others. It was a finalist for the 2023 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award.

performance and selfdistance between peopleeveryday unease

Bibliography

  • Beverly (2016)
  • Sabrina (2018)
  • Acting Class (2022)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
minimal, cool-lined drawingrestrained emotional expressionquiet scene construction
Recurring Motifs
isolation and alienationinfluence of mediaeveryday anxiety

Legacy

Nick Drnaso has gained international recognition for his restrained drawing style and works that depict contemporary social anxieties. In particular, Sabrina's Booker Prize longlisting marked a milestone for graphic novels and contributed to their elevated literary status.

Trivia

  • Sabrina was the first graphic novel ever longlisted for the Booker Prize.
  • His wife, Sarah Leitten, is also a cartoonist; they live in Chicago.
  • Major works include Beverly, Sabrina, and Acting Class.