Pulitzer Prize winner to speak at Kent State

March 6, 2018

Hosted by Kent State

Art Spiegelman

Author, cartoonist and Pulitzer Prize winner, Art Spiegelman will be speaking at Kent State on March 6 at 7 p.m. in the Kiva.

Students and community members are welcomed to listen to Spiegelman talk about “Comix, Jews’n Art -- Dun’t Esk.”

Sponsors for the event include Chaya Kessler and the Jewish Studies Program, Cleveland and Youngstown Jewish federations, the College of Arts and Sciences, Chabad at Kent State, Hillel and other private donors.

Spiegelman is a 1992 Pulitzer Prize special citations winner for the graphic novel, “Maus.” The story is about his father’s life as a Holocaust survivor, but there is a twist: All of the characters are depicted as animals. The Jews are mice, the Nazis are cats and the Americans are dogs.

The novel has been noted as the first of its kind, bringing attention to scholars and authors about comic books and graphic novels.

Along with “Maus,” he has done notable work with The New Yorker and has written other comics.

In 1980, Spiegelman co-founded “Raw,” a collection of underground comics, with his wife. They wanted to spread awareness of comics to older audiences.

Although he has not released what exactly will be discussed during his visit, professors and sponsors hope that it reaches many different audiences across campus.