Gene Luen Yang: Early Life

Gene Luen Yang
Gene Luen Yang (Chinese: 楊謹倫[1]; born August 9, 1973)[2] is an American cartoonist. He is a
frequent lecturer on the subjects of graphic novels and comics, at comic book conventions and
universities, schools, and libraries.[3] In addition, he was the Director of Information Services and
taught computer science at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California.[4] In 2012, Yang
joined the faculty at Hamline University as a part of the Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing
for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) program.[3] In 2016, the U.S. Library of Congress named
him Ambassador for Young People's Literature.[5] That year he became the third graphic novelist,
alongside Lauren Redniss, to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.[6]
Early life[edit]
Yang believes he was born in either Alameda or Fremont, California.[4] He is the child of an electrical
engineer from Taiwan and a programmer who grew up in Hong Kong and Taiwan, both of whom
emigrated to the United States.[2] They met at the San Jose State University Library during graduate
school.[4] He has a younger brother. He grew up in a Catholic family, and his parents instilled in him a
strong work ethic and reinforced their Asian culture.[7] In a speech at Penn State, where he spoke as
a part of a Graphic Novel Speaker Series, Yang recalled that both of his parents always told him
stories during his childhood.[8]
Yang was a part of a small Asian-American minority in his elementary school. He grew up wanting to
be an animator for Disney. In third grade, he did a biographical report on Walt Disney, which is
where he says his obsession started.[8] This changed in fifth grade when his mother took him to their
local bookstore where she bought him his first comic book, issue 57 of the Superman series DC
Comics Presents, a book she agreed to buy because Yang's first choice, Marvel Two-in-One issue
99, featured the characters The Thing and Rom on the cover, which she thought looked too
frightening.[8]
Yang attended the University of California, Berkeley for his undergraduate degree. He wanted to
major in art but his father encouraged him to pursue a more "practical" field so Yang majored in
computer science with a minor in creative writing.[9]
Works[edit]
After graduating in 1995, Yang worked as a computer engineer for two years. However, after a five-
day silent retreat, he felt he was meant to teach, and left his job as a computer engineer to teach
computer science at a high school.[9] As a teacher, he drew comics afterschool and during weekends.
In 1996, Yang began self-publishing his own comics under the imprint Humble Comics. Yang went
on to be published with First Second Books (an imprint of Macmillan Publishers),[4] Marvel
Comics, DC Comics, SLG Publishing, Dark Horse Comics, HarperTeen, The New Press,
and Pauline Books & Media.[10]
In 1997, Yang first published comic Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks under his Humble
Comics imprint, and it won him the Xeric Grant, a self-publishing grant for comic book creators.
[9]
Yang later published two more installments in the Gordon Yamamoto mini-series and a
sequel, Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order. In 2010, both Gordon Yamamoto and the King of
the Geeks series and Loyola Chin and the San Pelgrino Order were published together as Animal
Crackers by Slave Labor Graphics.[11]
In 2006, Yang published American Born Chinese with First Second Publishing.[12] Drawing upon the
Chinese folk character of the trickster Monkey King, the book tells the story of a school-age second-
generation immigrant who struggles with his Chinese-American identity. Although Yang drew from
his own experiences, the book is not autobiographical.[13] In 2021 Disney+ ordered production of a
television adaptation of the book.[14]
Yang's other works have been recognized as well. In 2009, Yang was awarded another Eisner
Award for Best Short Story for his collaborative work The Eternal Smile which he wrote and Derek
Kirk Kim illustrated.[3] Yang was nominated for Eisner Awards for both Prime Baby and his
collaborative work Level Up.[15]

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