Ajuan Mance

Ajuan Mance (she/they) is an artist and writer based in Oakland, California and a Professor of Illustration at the California College of the Arts. Ajuan is the author of several books including, most recently, 1001 Black Men: Portraits of Masculinity at the Intersections; Living While Black: Portraits of Everyday Resistance; and the children’s picture book What Do Brothas Do All Day? Ajuan’s comics have appeared in the Women’s Review of Books, New Yorker.com and several anthologies, including: We’re Still Here, winner of the 2019 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Anthology; Drawing Power, winner of the 2020 Eisner Award for Best Anthology; We Belong: An All-Black/All-Queer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Anthology, and others. Gender Studies: Portrait of an Accidental Outlaw, Ajuan’s first graphic novel, was nominated for the 2024 Ignatz Award for Best Comics Collection.