Ngozi Ukazu is an American cartoonist and graphic novelist. In 2013, she created the webcomic Check, Please!, which later became a New York Times-bestselling graphic novel.
Early life and education
Ukazu grew up in Houston, Texas. She attended Bellaire High School, where she contributed to the school’s newspaper, The Three Penny Press, as the comics editor. She is the daughter of Nigerian parents. She studied computer science, obtaining a degree in Computing and The Arts from Yale University in 2013 and earned a masters degree in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2015.
Career
Ukazu launched Check, Please! as a webcomic in 2013 after writing a screenplay about Eric "Bitty" Bittle, a gay college freshman and champion figure skater who joins a hockey team.
Ukazu created a Kickstarter campaign in 2015 to print the first volume of the comic; the campaign resulted in the highest-funded comics project in Kickstarter's history. In 2018, the first installment, Check, Please!: #Hockey, was published by First Second Books. The sequel, Check, Please!: Sticks & Scones, was a New York Times bestseller in May 2020.
Publications
2018: Check, Please!: #Hockey
2020: Check, Please!: Sticks & Scones
Awards and honors
2019 Ignatz Award - Winner, Outstanding Comic
2019 Harvey Award - Winner, Digital Book of the Year
2019 YALSA - Finalist | William C. Morris Award
2018 The Boston Globe - Best YA of 2018
2018 Kirkus Reviews - Best Young Adult Books of 2018 That Explore Family and Self 2018 New York Public Library’s Best Books - Top Ten Books For Teens 2018 Best of Austin - Arts & Entertainment Critics Pick 2018 Harvey Awards - Nominee, Digital Book of the Year 2017 National Cartoonists Society - Winner, Best Online Comic: Long Form 2017 NPR - 100 Favorite Comics And Graphic Novels
References
Living people
American women cartoonists
American webcomic creators
Savannah College of Art and Design alumni
Yale University alumni
Bellaire High School (Bellaire, Texas) alumni
Writers from Houston
American people of Nigerian descent
African-American comics creators
African-American women artists
Ignatz Award winners
American graphic novelists
Harvey Award winners
21st-century American novelists
Year of birth missing (living people) American women novelists American cartoonists The New Yorker people 21st-century American women writers African-American novelists