Robyn Smith

Robyn-Brooke Smith is a Jamaican writer and cartoonist based in the United States. She is the author of The Saddest, Angriest, Black Girl in Town and the illustrator of Wash Day, Nubia: Real One, and Wash Day Diaries, for which she received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics.

Early life and education Smith was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She aspired to become a cartoonist from childhood, inspired in part by her father, a portrait artist and her mother, a makeup artist. She also enjoyed reading Archie Digest, which she considers a key influence on her work. The book was named to the 2016 Best Short Form Comics list by The Comics Journal. After going out of print, it was reprinted in 2021 by Black Josei Press. She also illustrated the follow-up graphic novel Wash Day Diaries, for which she and writer Jamila Rowser received the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics and the 2023 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Story.

Smith illustrated Nubia: Real One (2021), a DC comic written by L.L. McKinney.

Works Illustration 2016 – The Saddest Angriest Black Girl In Town, writer and illustrator 2018 – Wash Day, written by Jamila Rowser, Black Josei Press 2021 – Nubia: Real One, written by L.L. McKinney, DC Comics 2022 – Wash Day Diaries, written by Jamila Rowser, Chronicle Books

Accolades 2016 – Best Short Form Comics, The Comics Journal (for The Saddest Angriest Black Girl In Town) 2023 – Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics (for Wash Day Diaries)