Kat Fajardo

Last updated
Kat Fajardo
Born
New York City, New York, U.S.
Other namesKatherine Fajardo
Education School of Visual Arts, New York City, New York
Occupation(s)Freelance Comic Artist and Illustrator

Katherine Fajardo (born January 16, 1991) is an American cartoonist and author. She is known for her book cover illustrations and comics that focus on Latino culture and self-acceptance. Her debut middle grade graphic novel Miss Quinces, which is a National Indie Bestseller, was the first Graphix title to be simultaneously published in English and Spanish (as Srta. Quinces). [1]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Fajardo is a first-generation American Latina born and raised in Loisaida New York City, New York. Her mother and father are both immigrants, from Honduras and Colombia respectively. At an early age, Fajardo was a fan of anime and manga. According to her, Digimon, Dragon ball Z, and Clamp manga series were her early influences. [2] She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, where she studied art from 2005-2009.

She later graduated with a BFA from The School of Visual Arts in 2013, where she studied cartooning, illustration, and animation. [3]

Career

During college, Fajardo became an intern at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, where she assisted the organization with file management and helped at their booths at comic conventions.[ citation needed ]

After graduating from the School of Visual Arts, Fajardo began exhibiting at comic conventions and zine festivals, selling self-published autobiographical zines that illustrated her experiences with her Latine identity and culture. In 2014, her minicomic Gringa!, which expressed her struggles with cultural identity through assimilation, racism, and fetishization as an American-Latina gained online recognition and was featured on several publications such as HuffPost Latino Voices, [4] Women Write About Comics, [5] HelloGiggles, [6] and NoEcho. [7]

Shortly after, Fajardo began contributing to anthologies and magazines. In 2016, as a response to the lack of Latinx voices in the comics community, Fajardo created and co-edited an all Latinx art and literature collection called La Raza Anthology: Unidos y Fuertes with her partner Pablo A. Castro. In an interview, Fajardo said, "I was like ya no más. Instead of moping around, I’m going to make my own anthology because we really need it". [8] The anthology was a 120-page book featuring illustrations, poetry, short stories, and comics from 42 contributors, and was successfully funded on Kickstarter in 2017.[ citation needed ]

After some time, through her agent Linda Camacho, Fajardo began working with kidlit publishers on cover art for middle grade books such as The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez, [9] Shaking Up the House by Yamile Saied Méndez, BUMP and The Supervillain's Guide to Being a Fat Kid, both by Matt Wallace.

In 2018, her first graphic novel for children was published, The Isle of the Lost: The Graphic Novel, a comic adaption of the New York Times best-selling Descendants series written by Melissa de la Cruz. The graphic novel was adapted by Robert Venditti, illustrated by Fajardo, lettered and colored by Leigh Luna with assistance by Madeline McGrane and Andrea Bell. [10]

In 2022, Fajardo released her solo debut graphic novel for middle-grade readers, Miss Quinces, published by Scholastic-Graphix [11] [ better source needed ], which was simultaneously released in both English and Spanish editions (as Srta. Quinces), a first in Graphix history.[ citation needed ]Miss Quinces received two starred reviews, and was selected as a summer reading pick by Entertainment Weekly, [12] Publishers Weekly, [13] The Horn Book, [14] and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. [15]

Works

Featured in:

Literary style and themes

Fajardo's work is heavily influenced by her personal search for wholeness in her cultural identity as an American Latina of Colombian and Honduran heritage. Her 17-page mini comic Gringa! is a candid chronicle of her struggle “through assimilation, racism, and fetishization of Latin culture”. [18] The cover of Gringa! depicts the main character, Fajardo herself, in a state of cultural divide. Half of her outfit is emblazoned with the stars and stripes of America while the other half proudly dons a traditional Latin American dress. On the Latino side, her hair is jet black and long; on the other side, her hair is bleached lighter and cropped short in an attempt to seamlessly assimilate into American culture. The first few pages of ‘’Gringa!’’ depict vitriolic attacks on immigrants from American protesters holding signs that read words like "'Diversity’=White Genocide” and “Return to Sender!” Fajardo reflects on the hardships immigrants face—“leaving their families behind and endangering their lives” only to arrive in America to unjustified racism and hostility. She ultimately recognizes that she should be proud of her heritage, but cannot find the courage to outwardly celebrate it. She cites a variety of factors: lack of Latino studies in academia and representation in television and cinema, fetishization and racism from classmates, and pressure from her own family to become a “proper lady” and “accept Machismo as the norm.” She does her best to conform and pass for the prototypical white American woman, but "mi raza" (literally translating as "my race") holds her fast. Years later, after discussing common experiences with Latino youth, she realizes that any discrimination she receives due to her heritage is no longer an obstacle for her, but “fuel” for her own creativity. She ends the comic proud of her journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance, and hopes to use her artwork to contribute to better representation of Latinos and Hispanics in the media. [19]

Fajardo is currently working on La Raza Anthology, which is a collection of comics, illustrations, poems, and short stories by more than 30 Latino creators discussing topics such as assimilation, racism, feminism, and queer and self-identity. La raza is a term stemmed from Mexican scholar José Vasconcelos's phrase, La Raza Cósmica ("the cosmic race"). Because Latin America is a mixture of different races and cultures, Farjardo uses la raza as a term to define her community by celebrating her roots. The anthology is an effort to give Latino creators proper recognition and address issues important to Latino culture.

Honors, decorations, awards and distinctions

In 2016, Fajardo's minicomic, Bandida, was a recipient of the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) mini-grant.

In 2017, Fajardo was awarded the CXC Emerging Talent Award at the Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, which was presented by Tom Spurgeon and Jeff Smith. [20]

In 2018, La Raza Anthology was nominated for an Ignatz Award for Best Anthology. Fajardo and Pablo A. Castro were the editors.

In 2019, Puerto Rico Strong Anthology won the 2019 Eisner Award for Best Anthology. The anthology contains work by Fajardo.

In 2020, Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment and Survival anthology won the 2020 Eisner Award for Best Anthology. The anthology contains work by Fajardo.

Related Research Articles

<i>Raw</i> (comics magazine) Comics anthology edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly

Raw was a comics anthology edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly and published in the United States by Mouly from 1980 to 1991. It was a flagship publication of the 1980s alternative comics movement, serving as a more intellectual counterpoint to Robert Crumb's visceral Weirdo, which followed squarely in the underground tradition of Zap and Arcade. Along with the more genre-oriented Heavy Metal it was also one of the main venues for European comics in the United States in its day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raina Telgemeier</span> American cartoonist, illustrator, and writer

Raina Diane Telgemeier is an American cartoonist. Her works include the autobiographical webcomic Smile, which was published as a full-color middle grade graphic novel in February 2010, and the follow-up Sisters and the fiction graphic novel Drama, all of which have been on The New York Times Best Seller lists. She has also written and illustrated the graphic novels Ghosts and Guts as well as four graphic novels adapted from The Baby-Sitters Club stories by Ann M. Martin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Luis Aldama</span> American academic

Frederick Luis Aldama is an American academic, known for this work as the Jacob & Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, founder and director of the Latinx Pop Lab, and Affiliate Faculty in Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas, Austin, and Adjunct Professor & Distinguished University Professor at The Ohio State University. He teaches courses on Latinx comics, tv, and film in the departments of English and Radio-Television-Film. At the Ohio State University he was Distinguished University Professor, Arts & Humanities Distinguished Professor of English, University Distinguished Scholar, and Alumni Distinguished Teacher as well as recipient of the Rodica C. Botoman Award for Distinguished Teaching and Mentoring and the Susan M. Hartmann Mentoring and Leadership Award. At the Ohio State University he was founder and director of the award-winning LASER/Latinx Space for Enrichment Research and founder and co-director of the Humanities & Cognitive Sciences High School Summer Institute. Aldama is the creator and curator of the Planetary Republic of Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lark Pien</span> American cartoonist and architect

Lark Pien is an American cartoonist who has created the minicomics Stories from the Ward, Mr. Boombha, and Long Tail Kitty, the last of which won her the Friends of Lulu Kimberly Yale Award for Best New Talent in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Kim Kibuishi</span> American author and illustrator

Amy Kim Kibuishi née Ganter, is an American author and illustrator of original English-language manga.

The portrayal of women inAmerican comic books has often been the subject of controversy since the medium's beginning. Critics have noted the roles of women as both supporting characters and lead characters are substantially more subjected to gender stereotypes, with femininity and/or sexual characteristics having a larger presence in their overall character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liz Prince</span> American comics creator

Liz Prince is an American comics creator, noted for her sketchbook-style autobiographical comics. Prince initially started publishing on her own on the internet and later became a published author with Top Shelf Comics. She currently lives in Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giannina Braschi</span> Puerto Rican writer

Giannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include Empire of Dreams (1988), Yo-Yo Boing! (1998) and United States of Banana (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Tiger (Hector Ayala)</span> Comics character

White Tiger is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by Bill Mantlo and George Pérez. A Puerto Rican, White Tiger was the first Latin American main character in the history of American comics and Marvel's first Hispanic superhero. The first member of his family to hold the mantle, Hector is the uncle of Angela del Toro and the brother of Ava Ayala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yosimar Reyes</span> Mexican artist

Yosimar Reyes is a Mexican-born poet and activist. He is a queer undocumented immigrant who was born in Guerrero, Mexico and raised in East San Jose, California. Reyes has been described as "a voice that shines light on the issues affecting queer immigrants in the U.S. and throughout the world."

Latino literature is literature written by people of Latin American ancestry, often but not always in English, most notably by Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Dominican Americans, many of whom were born in the United States. the origin of the term "Latino literature" dates back to the 1960s, during the Chicano Movement, which was a social and political movement by Mexican Americans seeking equal rights and representation. At the time, the term "Chicano literature" was used to describe the work of Mexican-American writers. As the movement expanded, the term "Latino" came into use to encompass writers of various Latin American backgrounds, including Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and others.

Proyecto ContraSIDA por Vida was a non-profit HIV-prevention agency located in the Mission District of San Francisco that provided community-based healthcare for the Latino/a and LGBT communities. It was one of several community-based health organizations that emerged in response to the AIDS crisis. Proyecto ContraSIDA por Vida emerged from a variety of organizations that aimed at reducing the spread of HIV in communities of color. Some of the predecessor organizations of PCPV were the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention (NTFAP), the Gay Latino Alliance (GALA), and Community United in Responding to AIDS/SIDA (CURAS), among others. Some of the leaders who came together to create PCPV included Ricardo Bracho, Diane Felix, Jesse Johnson, Hector León, Reggie Williams, and Martín Ornellas-Quintero.

Latinx is a neologism in American English which is used to refer to people of Latin American cultural or ethnic identity in the United States. The gender-neutral ⟨-x⟩ suffix replaces the ⟨-o/-a⟩ ending of Latino and Latina that are typical of grammatical gender in Spanish. Its plural is Latinxs. Words used for similar purposes include Latin@, Latine, and the simple Latin. Related gender-neutral neologisms include Chicanx and Xicanx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">America Chavez</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

America Chavez is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta, the character first appeared in Vengeance #1. America Chavez is the second incarnation of Miss America. The character has also been a member of the Young Avengers, the Ultimates, and the A-Force at various points in her history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adela Vázquez</span> Cuban American transgender activist and performer

Adela Vázquez is a Cuban American transgender activist and performer. Hailing from Cuba during a time of political uprising, Vázquez was one of 125,000 people who sought asylum and migrated in the Mariel Boat lifts in 1980. Local to San Francisco's gay scene, Vázquez began to organize with HIV prevention organization Proyecto ContraSIDA por Vida and became a community activist for transgender rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez</span> Nuyorican writer and artist

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez is a writer at Marvel Entertainment, Editor-in-Chief at Darryl Makes Comics LLC, Art Director/Owner at Somos Arte and Studio Edgardo creative services, and creator of La Borinqueña, an original comic book character that has grown into a cultural phenomenon and a nationally recognized symbol of Puerto Rican patriotism, social justice, and equality.

Monica Palacios is a Chicana lesbian American playwright and performer, specialising in Chicana, queer, feminist, and lesbian themes. She has charted the intersection of queer and Latina identities in Latinx communities, with their mutually marginalising impact. A trailblazer stand-up comedian in the 1980s and 1990s, Palacios is now better known for her work as an award winning playwright and activist. Her works are taught in many schools and colleges, where she has served frequently as a director of student theatre.

Gabby Rivera is an American writer and storyteller. She is the author of the 2016 young adult novel Juliet Takes a Breath, and wrote the 2017–2018 Marvel comic book America, about superhero America Chavez. Her work often addresses issues of identity and representation for people of color and the queer community, within American popular culture. Rivera is Puerto Rican and from the Bronx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Lindell</span> American cartoonist, speaker, and musician

Lawrence Lindell is an American cartoonist, speaker, and musician. He has written autobiographical comics including From Truth With Truth and Couldn’t Afford Therapy, So I Made This. His work covers mental health issues, blackness, and queerness. He lives in the Bay Area, California. Lindell is open about living with bipolar depression and PTSD. These are two of the main themes of his work. He has a forthcoming middle-grade graphic novel called 'Buckle Up' coming out in 2024 with Random House Graphic. He has a forthcoming graphic novel called 'Blackward' coming out in 2023 with Drawn and Quarterly.

La Borinqueña is a graphic novel by Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez published in 2016.

References

  1. Kaplan, Avery (2021-05-06). "Syndicated Comics". The Beat. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  2. "What Goes Into Making a Book Cover? An Interview with Zeke Peña, Mirelle Ortega, Jorge Lacera, and Kat Fajardo". Latinxs in Kid Lit. 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  3. "Artist Kat Fajardo celebrates her Latinx identity through indie comics". www.yahoo.com. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  4. "This Candid Comic Shows One Latina's Journey To Embracing Her Roots". HuffPost. 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  5. "Zine Review: Gringa". WWAC. 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  6. "Artist Kat Fajardo celebrates her Latinx identity through indie comics". HelloGiggles. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  7. "Interview: Art Spotlight: Kat Fajardo". www.noecho.net. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  8. "'La Raza' Anthology Is a Necessary 120-Page Collection of Latinx Comics & Short Stories". Remezcla. 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  9. "The Latina Team Behind 'The First Rule Of Punk' Created Something For The Kids They Used To Be". Bustle. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  10. Dueben, Alex (2018-10-02). "Smash Pages Q&A: Kat Fajardo". SMASH PAGES. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  11. "Miss Quinces". shop.scholastic.com. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  12. May 12, Lauren Morgan; EDT, 2022 at 02:05 PM. "11 exciting books for your kids' summer reading list". EW.com. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  13. "Summer Reads 2022 from Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  14. Terrones, Lettycia. "Review of Miss Quinces". The Horn Book. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  15. Higgins, Jim. "45 new books for summer reading in 2022". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  16. Kaplan, Avery (2021-05-06). "Syndicated Comics". The Beat. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  17. Liu, Jonathan H. (2022-07-11). "Stack Overflow: Recent Reads". GeekDad. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  18. Fajardo, Kat (2015)
  19. Fajardo, Kat (2015) Gringa!
  20. Terror, Jude (2017-10-01). "Kat Fajardo Wins 2017 Emerging Talent Award At Cartoon Crossroads Columbus". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved 2022-08-16.