Michael Sloan is an illustrator, who worked with freelance journalist Jake Halpern to create the graphic narrative "Welcome to the New World" for The New York Times. The series follows the lives and daily struggles of an immigrant family for several months, as they settle into their new home, the United States. A companion interview with Sloan is available here.
From inception to publication, can you walk us through the process of how "Welcome to the New World" was created?
MICHAEL SLOAN: We started working on sketches to document the family’s arrival. The family agreed to meet once or twice a week. Jake would meet the families to report on their lives and how they were doing, write a script for the comic, and then go back to the families to fact-check everything.The text would then go through an editorial process before coming to me. It was an enormous amount of work. Each comic took me approximately 22-24 hours to create, from sketches to final art.
You did this series last year. Have you been in touch with the family? How have things changed for them?
MS: My understanding is that both families have entered the catering business. It’s a source of income, but I think it’s still a struggle for them to make ends meet. Things seemed to have changed most for the children. They could speak some amount of English when they first arrived. Now the children speak English extremely well, especially the young ones. They seem to be comfortable and making friends. I know that all of them miss their family in Jordan and other countries.
Is their story a reflection of what's going on in the United States?
MS: There’s nothing new about refugees arriving in this country. I think it’s become such a hot issue because there is an anti-refugee, anti-immigration feeling in the country right now. I’m glad that we were able to offer a voice to counter the feelings of intolerance and a lack of understanding.
Would you call yourself a journalist, an illustrator, or a combination of both?
MS: I’ve been working as an illustrator for papers and magazines for almost 30 years. I never consider myself a journalist, I consider myself an illustrator. I guess there’s a fine line. Most of my illustrations tend to be works that react to an existing text that a journalist or somebody has already written.
Our editor at The New York Times who we worked most closely with, Bruce Headlam, wrote an article about the comic, where he referred to Jake and me as journalists for The New York Times. That was the first time that I saw me or the work that I was doing referred to as journalism.
How involved are you in the editorial process?
MS: I haven’t been very involved in the past. I always work for art directors who work as a proctor between me and the editorial process. The "Welcome to the New World" comic was very unique because it’s the first time that I’ve worked directly with editors and got to be a part of the editorial decision-making process.
Where were you when you found out about winning the prize?
MS: It was a Saturday morning, and I was making waffles for my family. I got a call from one of the editors at The New York Times, James Dao, and he told me that we had won the Pulitzer. It was a huge surprise.
I messed up the recipe for the waffles and I ended up throwing away half a dozen eggs because I kept getting the ingredients wrong. I actually didn’t believe it. I thought there must have been some sort of a mistake and that everything would be cleared up in the next few days.
I was invited to the The New York Times for the screening of the award announcements, and to accept the award. That’s when I realized, “Wow! This is really happening.”
Has winning the Pulitzer prize ever been on your radar? What does the prize mean to you?
MS: This was never really on my radar. I’m an artist. I’ve always associated the Pulitzer being an award for journalism, although I know they have been giving awards for music, theatre and editorial cartooning for years. It really was a complete surprise to me.
Jake and I worked very hard on this comic, and for me, the award is a validation for all the hard work we put into the project. I think every creative person craves validation and hopes that their work means something to someone other than themselves. For me winning the award meant that the comic meant something to the readers, and that’s really important to me.
Are there any particular past Prize winners whose work you admire?
MS: Art Spiegelman wrote a comic called "Maus," about the experience of his family during the Second World War. I believe Duke Ellington, the musician, won a Pulitzer a couple of years ago. Wynton Marsalis won, too. They are very important to me. I’m a musician as well as a visual artist.