Woodring wins Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize at Penn State

Just prior to introducing special guest speaker Joyce Farmer at Penn State last night, Steven Herb from The Pennsylvania Center for the Book announced the 2014 winner and honorees for the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize. Fran by Jim Woodring (Fantagraphics) picked up the prize while Heck by Zander Cannon (TopShelf) and Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang (First Second) were named as honorees.

Sponsored by Penn State University Libraries and administered by the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize is presented annually to the best graphic novel, fiction or non-fiction, published in the previous calendar year by a living U.S. or Canadian citizen or resident. Each year the winning author receives a prize of $2,500 and the two volume set of Ward’s six novels published by the Library of America. Last year’s winner was Building Stories by Chris Ware (Pantheon)

Editor’s Note: Can’t think of a more deserving winner than Woodring, who has a body of work unsurpassed in American comics.