Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Josh Adams, pulitzer prize

Josh Adams, Fahmida Azim, Hickey, Del Col Win 2022 Pulitzer Prize

The team of Josh Adams, Anthony Del Col, Fahmida Azim, and Walter Hickey have been awarded the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Illustrated Reporting and Commentary for the work "I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp," published on Insider.com.   Commenting on the award on Facebook this afternoon, Adams dedicated the award to his father, comic book industry legend Neal Adams, who passed less than two weeks ago on April 28.  As Adams notes, his father "used comics and the platform it gave him to discuss serious topics and to fight for people in need."

The last few weeks have been the most difficult time in my life. There's been untold ups and downs. No low point worse than the loss of my father.

Less than an hour ago I received word that I, along with Anthony Del Col , Fahmida Azim, and Walter Hickey have won a Pulitzer Prize for last year's Insider Comic "I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp." It's the first Pulitzer in Insider's history. My eternal appreciation and thanks to Anthony, Fahmida, and Walt for their work. Personally, I just wanted to share this because I want to dedicate this to my dad, who used comics and the platform it gave him to discuss serious topics and to fight for people in need.

In making the award, the Pulitzer Committee described "I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp" as "using the comics medium to tell a powerful yet intimate story of the Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs, making the issue accessible to a wider public."  The comic on Insider.com tells the story of Zumrat Dawut, a mother of three from Ürümqi, the capital of the Xinjiang autonomous region in China.  Dawut was arrested by the Chinese government in 2018 and sent to a detention facility for Uyghur women.  The comic story was developed from interviews given by Duwat and her testimony to the United Nations Human Rights Council.  "I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp" features artwork by Fahmida Azim, editing by Walter Hickey, art direction by Adams, colors by Rebecca Good, and letters by Taylor Esposito.  It was condensed and edited by Anthony Del Col.

According to Pulitzer.com, 2022 is the first year of the Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category for the awards.  They describe the general criterion for the category as "For a distinguished portfolio of editorial cartoons or other illustrated work (still, animated, or both) characterized by political insight, editorial effectiveness, or public service value." Pulitzer Prizes were first awarded in 1917.

In 2020, Adams and Del Col created the comic "What the President Did to Get Impeached and Then Acquitted" for Insider.com.  Anthony Del Col is the co-creator of Kill Shakespeare at IDW Publishing. Josh Adams has done production art for the Syfy Channel and worked on Doctor Who for IDW, and was a contributor to Bleeding Cool from its earliest days, notably with the column "What Would Josh Do?".

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