The Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC), a not-for-profit organization with a mission to guide and support the uses of comics in health, is thrilled to announce an award for outstanding health-related comic project completed and/or published in 2021. The award winner will be announced (live and live-streamed) during our 2022 Graphic Medicine Conference in Chicago. This award was made possible by a generous matching gift in Honor of Nancy and Herbert Wolf.
Nancy and Herb were married for 61 years. They raised four children and enjoyed their two grandchildren. Nancy was an artist, especially skilled at needlepoint, and a medical records administrator who chaired the medical records department of a Chicago-area hospital. Herb was a consulting actuary specializing in life insurance. In 2010, he received the lifetime achievement award from the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. As college students in the late 1940s, Nancy and Herb fought racial discrimination, sitting-in at segregated lunch counters. They supported anti-racist, anti-war, and economic social justice causes throughout their lives. They performed numerous plays with friends for over forty-five years. Nancy died in 2010. Herb died in 2018. This award is intended to honor and carry on their legacy of service and care.
Graphic Medicine Award FAQ
Q: What qualifies as a work of graphic medicine for this award?
A: Comics of any length that emphasize one or more health-related topics and were completed or published in 2021 are eligible for this award. Graphic medicine comics take as their theme (or meaningfully include) topics that impact health. We define the term “health” here broadly, based on the World Health Organization definition: a state of physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Comics can be fiction or nonfiction, memoir or biography, educational and/or entertaining. Both print and web-based comics are eligible for this award.
Q: Must eligible comics be published in English?
A: No, but all incorporated text must be translated into English for judging purposes.
Q: Who can submit a work for consideration?
A: Each comic for consideration must be submitted by the creator of the comic or their publisher. Due to the nature of the award process, we will not be able to accept anonymous submissions but we will respect pseudonyms.
Q: How should works be submitted?
The deadline for 2022 submissions has passed. We will open the submissions for 2023 in January.
Q: How will the award winner be selected?
A: The winner will be selected by the GMIC Award Judges, a diverse group consisting of at least five persons, each representing one or more of these categories: cartoonist, academic, clinician, librarian, person with lived experience of illness, caregiving, and/or disability, and comics critic/reviewer. The Judges will be named and acknowledged at the award presentation during our annual conference.
Q: When will the award be presented?
A: The winner of the inaugural 2022 GMIC Award will be announced at the Graphic Medicine Conference in Chicago July 14-16. Winners need not be present.
Q: What will the award winner receive?
A: The winning comic will be awarded $1,000 (U.S. dollars) and a keepsake suitable for display. Please note that the monetary award may be subject to taxes for which the winner will be responsible.
Q: You said the award donation requires matching funds. Is there ongoing fundraising to provide the match this award requires?
A: Yes. To help develop and fund this annual award, GMIC will receive an annual $5,000 gift through at least 2031 in Honor of Nancy and Herbert Wolf. Receipt of this generous gift is contingent on raising matching funds! To help make this award possible, you can make a tax-deductible contribution by clicking HERE. 
If you would prefer to mail a check, please send it to:
ATTN: Graphic Medicine Award Committee
Graphic Medicine International Collective
PO Box 16133
Worcester, MA 01601
If you have any questions about donations, or any aspect of the award, feel free to email us: gmic@graphicmedicine.org
Q: Will there be changes to the award in the future?
A: Yes! For 2022, there will be a single award, but GMIC anticipates additional award categories in the future.
UPDATE: The first shortlist. The first winner!
